Here’s what I had for lunch today (click to enlarge) – not a new review or anything, but thought it was interesting how many international flavors came together on this one. First, FMF Chow Noodles Masala Flavor from Fiji. Added kimchi, a Korean dish, some Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake from Japan, Dua Belibis chili sauce from Indonesia, some ham, stirfry veggies and sweet onion, and a 2 egg omelet with 2 slices of processed cheese and some Tabasco Jalapeno hot sauce – which I presume is all from the United States but might not be. Was pretty good – quite an interesting combo!
Here’s another one my sister brought me back from Canada! This one piqued my interest – gado-gado? Wikipedia says:
Gado-gado (in Indonesian or Betawi language), also called Lotek (in Sundanese) for its cooked version – differed from lotek atah or karedok for its fresh and raw version of the vegetable covered with peanut sauce and pecel (Javanese language) is an Indonesian dish comprising a vegetable salad served with a peanut sauce dressing.[1] It is thought to have originally been a Sundanese dish. It is widely served from hawkers carts, stalls (warung) as well as in restaurants and hotel both in Indonesia and worldwide.
Gado-gado is part of a wide range of Indonesian dressing & salad combinations, along with lotek, pecel and karedok. In many places, to retain authenticity in both the production and flavor, the peanut sauce is made in individual batches, in front of the customers. However, since the dish has gained popularity (because of the increase of Asian-themed restaurants) Gado-gado sauce is now mostly made ahead of time and cooked in bulk, although this is probably more common in Western restaurants rather than in Indonesia. Compared to Western and Indonesian salads, Gado-gado has much more sauce in it. Instead of being used as a light dressing, the vegetables should be well coated in the sauce.
With that being understood, it sounds almost slightly like a pad thai variation when mixed with noodles. Well, we’ll see!
Here’s the back of the packaging.
This is an interesting noodle block; more like a rounded and spun rice vermicelli toupee!
Ah! Hello my little four tined friend!
Here’s the paste packet.
Has a very nice odor – got a smidge on the old finger so tried it – yup – peanut butter!
No labelling on this one – what could it be?
Found it on the back – this is a vinegar-based liquid seasoning.
Here’s the vegetable sachet!
Here’s the veggies – looks like a nice amount.
Finished. Added some kizami shoga (pickled ginger), fried shallots, two eggs and a little Krazy Mixed Up Salt. Well, the noodles aren’t bad – they don’t clump too badly for rice noodles. The flavor? Very bland. The peanut sauce is a slight hint and unfortunately the veggies weren’t great either. Had high hopes for this one but uh-uh. 2.25 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 652283002846 .
Chewy commercials!
Awesome video on making homemade gado-gado – it pauses for a second but it fixes itself.
This is one of the samples sent by Empire International – thanks again to them and Jim C.! Many years ago, I tried this stuff. This was the first Indomie product I’d ever tried! I used to get tons of this stuff – my folks would bring it back to anacortes from Seattle , a bit of a journey for noodles! All the packets, the draining, the eggs… This is where it all begand for me.
Here’s the package back – notice Empire International’s info towards the bottom.
Such awesome noodles – they are really great!
Alright let’s start from left to right. Seasoned oil, sweet soy sauce, fried onion bits, powdered seasoning and chili powder. Five packets of awesomeness!
Here’s everything but the onions awaiting the drained noodles and some stirring.
Added a couple eggs with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Meat Magic and a bunch of drops of Huy Fong Sriracha Chili sauce. The noodles are great. The flavor is sweet and salty and the little bits of onion on top give it a wonderful zestiness. The chili powder give it a little heat too. I made two packages – it’s so good. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars! Get it here.
An Indomie commercial
I think this is one of the commercials from Africa
Yeah – The Ramen Rater is international now! Thanks go to Stefan Meeuws for making this happen! Check out the article below- if anyone would be kind enough to email me a translated verion that would be great! You can click on the Chip logo if you want to buy a copy of the magazine!
UPDATE! Thanks go to my sister Susan Lienesch for translating the article! See below!
Click to enlarge
Blogs come in all shapes and sizes. They range from very personal to very strong or surprising. But who is hidden behind these online journals? This month:
Hans Lienesch is 36 years old, an abstract artist who lives near Seattle in the United States. He is engaged to Christine and has a 6 year old son, Andreas. Since 2002, he has sampled over 400 instant noodles (ramen soup) and reviews them at www.ramenrater.com.
A Whole Lottta Noodles
Lienesch began his Ramen Rater project in 2002. First it was a simple table, and then later he changed it into a blog with photos and sometimes videos. “By blogging I can better express myself. I love writing and have a passion for noodles that began when I was a child. When my favorite type was no longer made, my family took me to a huge Asian supermarket in Seattle. There we found the noodles that were the most like them. When years later I still was interested in them, I then began my site.”
Noodles offer plenty of inspiration. “There are more types than you would think; therefore they are not difficult to find. The worst noodles I ever tasted were Instant Sweet Potato Noodle: Spicy Fei-Chang Flavor. They were greasy and dirty. The craziest noodles I ever had were by Super Bihon. On the package there is a heart with a small bomb on it. Maybe it refers to the heart attack you’d get from so much sodium? It was not clear to me, but it was good to eat!” Lienesch has a special page for his Top 10 favorite noodles. At the moment, the Indomie Mie Keriting Goreng Special Fried Curly Noodles from Indonesia is in first place.
Slightly Eccentric
The Ramen Rater is an at-home IT tech. His work on his blog gets different responses. “Some people find me a bit eccentric, other people see me as a zealous enthusiast. To put a good blog website together, you must make sure that you can easily find your way around on it. I love websites that are somewhat Spartan in appearance. I now read other’s blogs a bit more because I myself have written other blogs. foofoomayo.com is about the experiences of my family. I also did hot sauce ratings at saucerater.wordpress.com, but I stopped after I created my own recipe.
Reactions
Although it seems a bit like Lienesch can be seen as an authority in the noodle area, he has not received comments from noodle makers. “I have been submitted interview questions, but I think my reviews are honest discussions. However, I do get lots of questions and comments from visitors. The last inquiry I received was someone from South Africa wanting to buy noodles
It looks unlikely that Lienesch will stop testing noodles. “I love it; I’ll buy no more only when no more new kinds to find. I am well on the way to the 500th review. My son Andreas is now also very much into noodles, and therefore makes trying new kinds of noodles more fun.”
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