#935: Maruchan Instant Lunch Beef Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

Instantaneous Lunch? Nope – three minutes. But if you’re too impatient for that, I suppose one could eat it raw. I prefer the cooked version myself!

The information panel from the cardboard outer (click to enlarge).

The iconic cup itself.

So I wrote an article about how one shouldn’t blame the cup when spilling their noodles. Here’s the article and in the image above you can clearly see you’ve been warned – don’t microwave it and watch out for the ninos!

The lid on the cup (click image to enlarge). Notice it tells you to heat water in a seperate container in the microwave – don’t put the whole thing in there.

The noodle block. The seasoning is infused – note the powder on the noodles.

A scant few of the veggies – there were more in the bottom of the cup.

Finished (Click image to enlarge). Added fresh sweet onion, stir-fry veggies, thinly sliced ham, one egg, kizami shoga (pickled ginger), Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake. Cooked the noodles as specified, sampled, fried everything in a pan. Added Dua Belibis Indonesian chili sauce at the end. The noodles aren’t bad – about what you would expect from a cup of noodles. I’ve had much better, but I’ve had many that don’t come close to this one’s quality. The beef flavoring is pretty good – tasty. The veggies hydrated well; most notably the corn was good. A nice cup of noodles! 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 041789001222 – get it here.

Hunting down a small child with some noodles – works every time!

S recipe involving Maruchan Yakisoba noodles

#930: Maruchan 35% Less Sodium Instant Lunch Beef Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

After this one, I think I have only four new ones to review! Egad! Hoping the mailman brings some new things to review soon! So here’s a cup of noodles for breakfast…

Here’s the back of the cardboard outer (click image to enlarge).

The iconic cup. I must say I dig on the font and the colors; very 70’s / early 80’s look and feel to it.

A scan of the lid (click image to enlarge).

The noodle block. If you notice, the noodles are bespeckled in a layer of powder – that being the seasoning. There are no packets here – everything is ready to go.

Here are some of the veggies I picked out of the cup.

Finished (click image to enlarge). Drained broth, added stir fry veggies, sweet onion, kizami shoga (pickled ginger), minced garlic, and an egg. Fried in a small skilled for a while and added a pinch of Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake and Dua Belibis chili sauce on top. Before this as usual I did the sampling. The noodles were good – nice texture and chew. The broth was lighter than usual, but had a nice beef flavor I enjoyed. The veggies hydrated well. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 041789001727 – get it here.

Absolutely awesome – why don’t any noodle companies give away stuff with their noodles in the USA? I call for an instant noodle rennaisance – marketing blitz and social hipness explosion!

Looks fancy and tasty.

#912: Maruchan Instant Lunch Shrimp Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

Here’s another one of Maruchan’s Instant Lunches – who would think that I wouldn’t have reviewed it until now… Weird! But here’s the shrimp instant cup!

Here are the ingredients and directions from the cardboard outer (click to enlarge).

The majestic iconic cup!

The lid.

The noodle block.

Here are the veggies and some shrimp!

Finished (click to enlarge). Added shrimp that were marinated in Crystal hot sauce, hard boiled egg with some Krazy Mixed Up Salt and a sprinkle of Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake. Okay so the noodles: very light and thin. Buttery texture. The broth is nice – very calming and light with a nice shrimp taste I enjoyed. The bits and pieces of dehydrated shrimp and veggies were good too and re-hydrated nicely. I’m impressed with this one; really didn’t expect it to be this good! 3.75 out of 5.0 stars – a very good cup of noodles! UPC bar code 041789001253 – get it here.

Smiles For All!

Another Maruchan Japan commercial

#900: Maruchan Instant Lunch Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodles With Vegetables

When I recently redid The Big List, I noticed some things. One of them was that I have never reviewed this one, nor it’s Beef or Shrimp fellow Instant Lunches! Talk about an oversight on my part… I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do a Meet The Manufacturer with Maruchan soon – thanks to everyone who has asked me to do one, it’s just I’ve never been able to successfully get in touch with them. Well, here we go with a close up and personal with Maruchan’s Instant Lunch: Chicken Flavor.

Here’s the back of the cardboard packaging (click to enlarge).

Under the cardboard outer is the familiar foam cup.

Here’s the lid (click to enlarge). Read the lid! It says use a SEPARATE CONTAINER to heat the water and add to the cup – don’t microwave the cup!

The seasoning and vegetables are right there under the lid; no packets.

Finished. Added boiled chicken, green bell pepper, broccoli, yellow onion and Krazy Mixed Up Salt. When I stirred the noodles, veggies and liquid initially, there was a kind of frothy foam. The noodles are thin and have a kind of buttery flavor and light texture. The broth has a pleasant, salty chicken flavor and nice color – not bad. The veggies weren’t bad either – I think I liked the peas the most, the corn the least and the carrot in between. I could totally enjoy something like this for lunch. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 041789001215 – get it here

New Maruchan commercial.

A TV commercial for Maruchan Instant Lunch and Yakisoba products.

Tipping Point: Is There Really A Danger From Cup Noodles?

I’ve seen a few articles as of late about people burning themselves because they tip over cups of instant noodles. This is ridiculous. These articles start citing that the design of these cup is flawed. Also, it is mentioned that many of the victims are children! I think anyone saying “here little tyke, be careful, it’s hot” ought to have their heads examined. . If you don’t know how to correctly operate and consume a cup noodle, I will herein inform you as to how.

The first rule of the cup noodle is follow the directions. Most people don’t read directions when making a cup noodle, but most of them have them. Nowhere does it say to fill it with water then put it in the microwave for a few minutes; in fact, there are little icons warning against doing exactly that. Microwaving cup noodles can cause superheating of the contents as well as can release chemicals from the foam. Note, the cups are made from foam, not Styrofoam which is a trademarked material.

Most cup noodles direct you to heat water in a seperate container in the microwave and then pour it in and close the lid. Is there a differene in the taste? Sure! Would you microwave spaghetti noodles and expect them to taste good? Of course not; you’d do what it says on the packaging.

Now for the tipping issue. I’ve had a lot of instant noodles in my day. Bowls, bags, cups, big bowls and king cups. Have I ever tipped one over? No. Have I ever knocked one over? Yes. Something tipping over on its own and being knocked over by me are two distinctly different things altogether. It isn’t a design flaw. I had a stage when I was in my teem years when I would knock over everything that had liquid in it on myself. At McDonald’s I knocked a large Coke on myself. At a pizza joint, I knocked a banana malt all over my shorts. Was it lame? Yes. Was it my fault? Sure was. Was it the fault of the design of the beverage receptacle? Not really. How could it be?

The flaw, especially when it comes to kids getting burned, is the parent letting them get burned. Come on, parent – don’t be a lazy hooplehead!

I am willing to take all responsibility for my own actions and as of this moment, openly  apologize to myself for all accidents involving cup noodles that get knocked or ‘tipped’ over by me in times previous and future. I’ve never heard anyone complain about those long-neck beer bottles being elbowed – granted they don’t contain hot liquid, but they’re easily knocked over.

In closing, read the directions and while the noodles steep, let them sit in a safe place. Watch yourself and be careful! Contents may be hot.