#700: Meet The Manufacturer – Nissin Chikin Ramen (Local)

Here we go – this is the originasl instant noodle. This is what Momofuku Ando first sold in Japan! This is the real deal. Here’s a link to my post on Momofuku Ando Day!

My wife got me this five pack of Chikin Ramen for my birthday from Japan on eBay – unfortunately, the shipper wrapped it in newspaper and a plastic bag – the packs were all damaged in the extreme and only one had enough of the form to use for review.

See, this little dimple in the middle is what it;s all about. You’ll see what I mean.

Here’s the front of the individual pack.

This is the back of the big 5-pack bag. So what you do is put everything in a bowl, drop an uncooked egg on top, add 450cc water and cover for 3 minutes.

Here’s the back of the individual packs.

Here’s our poor specimen (this was the nicest one out of all five packs – all the others were mostly like the pulverized bits on the underneath of this one) there’s no seasoning packets – it’s all infused into the noodles.

I decided in honor of this ‘Meet The Manufacturer’ week and being review #700, I thought I’d make a video showing how I made this stuff.

The finished product. It seems like this would be about as hum-drum and normal as you can get, but quite honestly, there’s really nothing else that I’ve tried that’s like it. I’ve had some noodles that are pre-seasoned and tasted somewhat similar, but they don’t come out like this. The noodles have a very light, almost ‘springy’ texture to them. They bulk up when steeping and you end up with a pretty decent portion. The broth is thin; like I said, all the seasoning is in the noodles themselves. The flavor is kind of like a chicken sesame. I think calling them ‘Roasted Ramen’ when they were available in the US for a short time was an apt title. These are a work of art and a testament to Momofuku Ando‘s ingenuity. With the egg, it’s a good, filling meal. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars!!! UPC barcode 4902105001103 .

Chikin Ramn commercial.

Making of a Chikin Ramen commercial.

One bizarre music video!

 

 

 

#699: Meet The Manufacturer – Nissin Cup Noodles Salsa Picante Shrimp Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

Here’s a new flavor of Cup Noodles!

Back of the cardboard packaging.

Here’s the lid..

Here’s the pre-seasoned noodle block and veggies. Just need some boiling water…

Finished. Added water – that’s all. The noodles aren’t bad – I imagine anyone looking at this site has a pretty good idea of how Nissin Cup Noodles noodles are. I like the taste of this one – notes of cumin, chili powder… Light shrimp flavors too . Veggies aren’t bad and the little shrimps are pretty good! 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 070662031025 .

Neat little video about Cup Noodles’ inception.

Japanese Cup Noodles commercial.

 

#698: Meet The Manufacturer – Nissin Original Chow Mein Orange Chicken Flavor

Here’s a new flavor of chow mein to check out! Sounds pretty good – I like orange chicken.

Here’s the detail from the package bottom.

Here’s what you see when you take off the plastic wrap.

A decent sized noodle block.

The liquid seasoning.

Guess I should have used the little white sake cup for this one, huh? Well, it’s more of a orange/brown color than black.

Veggies!

Here they are – looks like a decent amount of them too!

Finished. I added some Bird’s Eye Stir Fry vegetables, some oven roasted turkey breast and some Ajishima Kim Chi furikake. The Noodles are pretty good – definitely has a kind of texture and quality I usually would expect from perhaps a frozen dinner – they’re pretty good! The flavor is nice – a slightly spicy orange chicken. The veggies are really good – all over and of good quality. This is a nice one! 4.0 out of 5.0 stars! UPC barcode 07066208728 – get it here.

Nissin Chow Mein commercial.

Funny Nissin Japan commerciall.

 

#697: Meet The Manufacturer – Nissin Spoon it Rich & Hearty Savory Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

Whoa check this out – Spoon it? This is something brand new from Nissin. Apparently, it’s been released on the east coast. I was told that noodles like this do better in colder climates (funny how the weather worked this year!). A box of noodles… Let’s check this out!

Here’s the back and side panels – click it to enlarge.

Interesting – three little bags of noodles! They remind me of the Big Cup Noodle ‘spoonable’ style noodles.

Three flavoring packets…

Check out this powdery stuff! A decent amount of it.

Finished. The noodles in this one were interesting – very soft. The broth pretty much all but disappeared and after the 3 minutes of standing it turned into more of a sauce. This reminds me slightly of one of those ‘Noodle & Sauce’ side dishes they have in bags at the grocery store. It was very quick to prepare and pretty good! I made it for my son, Andy – he really liked it! I liked it too – 3.25 out of 5.0 stars.

Andy was really excited to be able to try some brand new on the market noodles!

Nissin Filipino commercial

Nissin India commercial

#696: Meet The Manufacturer – Nissin Big Cup Noodles Spicy Chicken Flavor

Here’s a new one from Nissin – Spicy Chicken Big Cup Noodles. Let’s give it a try!

Here’s the info from the side panels.

These noodles are definitely different. No packet – no detectable veggies. What’s great is they’re almost like potato chips or those Pik Nik shoestring potato snacks in a way if you try then uncooked.

Finished. This was a quick one, but that’s because it’s very simple and to the point. You add room temp water up to the line, microwave for a few minutes and after a minute of cooling, you’re good to go. No packets – just add water and cook. So let’s start with the ‘spoonable noodles.’ They’re great – like a cross between rice noodles and egg noodles texture-wise. There’s plenty of them too. The broth was very nice too – had a little thickness to it and the flavor was chickenny and lightly spicy.  If you’re looking for spicy habanero heat, don’t look here. Pretty good stuff – convenient and fast. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 070662030455 .

Looks like King is what they call it in Japan!

Or they call it Big there, too!