#904: Myojo Ippei-chan Yomise-No Yakisoba Oriental Style With Mayonnaise 一平ちゃん

Here’s a new one we got at Uwajimaya. This looks really good! Nothing says tasty like a little bit of Japanese mayonnaise! Let’s check it out!

Here are close-ups of the text on top, the side and the bottom (click to enlarge).

Here’s the lid (click to enlarge). Notice the top left has a pour spout!

The noodle block – big and rectangular.

Here’s the front and back of the yakisoba sauce packet.

A good sized veggie packet.

Looks like some niceties like cabbage and other tasty bits.

Spice packet?

Interesting; I expected chili powder but I taste seaweed and sesame seed.

Here we go! A mayonnaise packet! You can get all artsy with this one – use scissors and cut off a corner to get a thin stream.

Finished (click to enlarge).  Added stir-fry vegetables, some baked chicken with Lindberg-Snider Red Baron BBQ Spice, kizami shoga (pickled ginger) and Urashima Sesame & Salt furikake. The noodles were really nice – floffy and almost buttery. The yakisoba sauce really makes it all quite tasty and the mayonnaise is really a nice addition – adds a bit of interesting comfort food notion. The vegetables were good – primarily cabbage, but it was crunchy! Good stuff – 4.75 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 011152219875 .

What an awesome commercial – squeezing the mayonnaise packets!

A nice little sampling of Japanese commercials from the mid 90’s.

#712: Four Seas Seaweed Instant Noodle

Here’s one my sister brought me down from Canada! Thanks, Sue!!! Seaweed flavor, huh? Well, let’s check it out!

Side panels.

This is a first! There are two separate noodle blocks!

Plus a folding fork!

It’s like a Transformer! Kkkk-kkk-kkk-kkk… Yeah.

Powder seasoning…

A pretty good amount and very powdery.

Sesame oil!

Nice strong odor.

Finally, the star of the show – seaweed. Looks like a pretty decent amount.

Yep – a lot of seaweed – layers of it!

Finished. Added some store brand stir fry veggies with a little turkey breast and some Ajishima Kim Chi furikake, a dash of Krazy Mixed Up Salt and a few pieces of narutomaki. The noodles are good but very weak and borderline mushy – eat this one before they get mushy would be my advice. The broth is full of sesame oil flavor but not a whole lot of flavor other than that. Seaweed is extremely prevalent – its everywhere! It’s good too! I like this one – although it definitely could be better. It seemed almost watery; kind of a weird thing to say about soup, but there it is. 3.25 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 4892616010872 .

All about seaweed farming!

Eating seaweed straight from the ocean in Korea

#675: Samyang Nagasaki Jjampong

Here’s the second of the two packs sent to me by Chris H. of Westport, CT – thanks again! So this is the other extremely popular variety out of Korea, Samyang’s Nagasaki Jjampong. I read that ‘white broth’ instant noodles are all the rage there – none are for sale in the Asian grocery stores I frequent and the ones Chris sent are from Korea. Anyways, let’s give it a try!

Here’s the back of the package. I decided that adding 550mL water and cooking for three minutes would do the trick.

The noodle block in this one’s round.

Powder seasoning packet.

Amazing – it smells and tastes like Jalapeno Cheese Cheetos! It’s pretty tasty!

The veggie packet.

I smell fish and see some seaweed. Curious as to how this will come out.

Finished. First, the noodles. Wide and chewy – like an instant udon. The broth is spicy and has a nice heartiness to it. The little veggies are good too – not exactly sure of everything in the packet but it has a meat-like texture; maybe fish? Not sure. All in all, this is excellent. 4.75 out of 5.0 stars! UPC number 8801073110472 – get it here.

Samyang Nagasaki Jjampong commercial.

How to make Korean Jjampong!

#662: Daikoku Shokuh Kitsune Udon

Here’s another Japanese bowl I got at Uwajimaya. The one yesterday was so good, I thought a kitsune udon bowl would be nice today.

Here’s the little sticker on the bottom of the bowl.

One single seasoning packet – pretty common with the Japanese bowls I’ve tried as of late.

Here’s everything awaiting the water. Fried tofu!!!

Finished. I added a fried egg with a dash or two of pepper, some kizami shoga (pickled ginger), some Ajishima Kimchi Furikake, some fried shallot and a little bok choy and sushinori (seaweed). The noodle were broad and full of flavor from the broth. Not very chewy but not soggy or spongy. The broth is sweet and salty and quite enjoyable. The udon is nice and sweet as well and delicious. Everything is quite nice here. 4.25 out of 5.0 stars. UPc barcode 4904511604046 .

Here’s a Cooking With Dog where they make Omurice. Omurice is well known amnong ramen junkies as it appears notably in the film Tampopo.

Here’s the scene from Tampopo.

#622: Daikoku My Friend Vic Tanuki Udon Big Bowl

You might be viewing this website today because of the article they did about me in The Everett Herald – or not! Either way, I thought I’d break out something I found last week that I’m really stoked on. This is a bowl I got at Uwajimaya, a Japanese grocery in Seattle (there’s one in Bellevue, too).

If you’re new to noodles, let’s start with the name here. Tanuki? Well, you’re going to find this really bizarre – just have a look at this. I’ve noticed that when tanuki is mentioned, there’s going to be some tempura involved. Udon? It’s a thick, wider gauge noodle.  My Friend Vic? You got me – maybe y ou know him?

When stuff like this ends up in stores here in the United States, they have to conform to our requirements as far as the nutrition facts labels and ingredients lists. What can be tough is deciphering the actual name of the instant noodle bowl (I don’t speak Japanese). Google to the rescue! If you take all the digits on the barcode from the label and enter it into Google, you’ll end up with a ton of links to Japanese online groceries – click Translate on the result and after clicking on a few of them, you can get the idea of what the noodles are titled.

Two packets here – powdered on the left and the tempura on the right. Nice to see there’s some seaweed included!

I like my tempura crunchy, so I leave it to the side for now. Here’s the noodles and powdered seasoning awaiting the water. Just like you’d expect, you fill it up to the line and cover it. I use an old yearbook – not mine – from 1987 I found at the Goodwill Outlet in Seattle.

Holy cow this looks awesome! I added a fried egg and put a little Krazy Mixed Up Salt on top. I also added a little bit of Kizami Shoga, which is pickled ginger – not the kind you find with sushi that’s sweet but the sharp flavored kind. Let’s start with the noodles. They came out really nicely – they’re broad and thick – very tasty! Not very chewy, but not spongy. The broth is very tasty – salty, yes, but not ‘table salty.’ The good shoyu (soy sauce) flavor comes through. Then the tempura: crunchy and tasty – the seaweed is nice too! I really enjoyed this one a lot – Highly recommended! 4.75 out of 5.0 stars!

Here’s a vid of someone making what you’d find if you ordered tanuki udon in a Japanese restaurant.

Earlier this year, I was invited down to KIRO News/Radio 97.3FM and was interviewed by Rachel Belle!