Category: Food

Ramen 15: Let All The Children Boogie

Three more chicken noodle reviews! Perhaps I blur the ‘ramen’ definition a bit this time…

Myojo Udon (Artificial Chicken Flavor) (210 Calories, 0 g fat, 2100 mg sodium)

I used to buy a chicken udon product years back and enjoyed it a lot, so I was hopeful for this one. The fact it’s zero fat and very low calorie was interesting, as was the preparation instructions which were simple and just required a microwave.

When it was ready it had virtually no smell, and I was concerned I had another flavorless product on my hands, so I was very surprised when I had a mouthful and discovered how absolutely repulsive the taste was. I’m not exaggerating here: a taste of dirt and death very nearly triggered my gag reflex and I had to spit it out. My notes (yes I keep notes for these reviews) say ‘tastes like poison grass’ and ‘made by devils in a factory controlled by Satan‘!

One of the very worst products I’ve reviewed, and I’ll give it -9/10 with just the fact the noodles cooked well keeping it from -10!

Maruchan Yakisoba (Chicken Flavor) (510 Calories, 21 g fat, 1300 mg sodium)

This is another microwave product, and as with the previous one was very easy to make. But even though I followed the instructions perfectly (I’m an expert chef after all) I wonder if perhaps the finished product needed a bit more water?

The taste is strong but very salty, and there’s perhaps 30% too many noodles for the low-eater I have become. But it’s satisfying overall, a thoroughly decent product, and in a pinch I’d eat it again: 7/10.

Hello Kitty Chicken Noodle Soup (300 Calories, 12 g fat, 810 mg sodium)

This – which was purchased at a toy/collectible store – is easily the most expensive ramen I’ve reviewed at $6! Obviously the cost all goes into the license, since the taste left a lot to be desired.

One flavor packet contained revolting toothpaste-consistency fat, and the sharp smell of the finished product almost made me gag. It didn’t taste anything like chicken, and I’m informed by KLS (who liked it) that it was more of a curry soup. Absolutely not worth the money, and barely worth 3/10.

That’s an astonishing 39 products reviewed, and it may be time to conclude that I have exhausted every type of chicken-only instant noodle product available where I live. If I wanted to continue this series, I’d probably have to go on a trip to distant shores of hitherto unseen chicken ramen…

Ramen 14: The Endless Parade of Chicken

Its time for more ramen reviews! Yes, the varieties seem to never end 🙂

Nissin ‘Chinese Product‘ (Artificial Chicken Flavor) (470 Calories, 21 g fat, 1980 mg sodium)

This one was a bit of a calorie and sodium bomb, which suggested a robust taste. Everything was fine until the flavor packet was added to the cooking noodles, at which point an unpleasant smell filled the kitchen.

My first reaction to sampling this was that it had a strange seafood taste (which KLS also detected) and tasted strongly of vegetables and nothing at all like chicken. It wasn’t terrible, but I’d never choose to eat it again. An average product: 5/10.

Kasari Kids (Chicken Flavor) (228 Calories, 42 g fat, 492 mg sodium)

This is a cute mini-sized product for kids. I bought this maybe a year ago but it sat in the cupboard all this time since the adult-sized version was awful. I prepared this with trepidation.

Firstly it’s not ramen: the noodles resemble the packet ‘chicken noodle soups’ I used to eat as a kid. Secondly, it had little or no visible flavoring added, with just a smatter of dedicated veggies mixed with the noodles. And thirdly, it had no taste at all. Imagine eating flavorless noodles in hot water and that’s what this was. I have to believe this was a production error since I can’t see how anyone could call this a chicken soup, but regardless my score for this is an easy 0/10!

Nissin Souper Meal (Chicken Flavor) (560 Calories, 23 g fat, 2700 mg sodium)

This mega-sized beast is obviously made for a real man so it was something I should love surely? The noodle brick was bigger, the flavor pack bulging and I chuckled as I poured what seemed like too much water into the massive cup.

Unfortunately, it disappointed. I’ve sampled a few Nissin products so far, and mostly they are average and would be good in a world without Gefen or Maruchan. This one however tasted very different to me: more earthy or even beefier. I found it distasteful, and ultimately this was a product that wouldn’t be to my liking even at half the size. Score: 3/10.

That’s 36 ramens reviewed and I’ve still got some to go, including the most expensive one I have yet purchased. What is it? Stay tuned…