I recently discovered these noodles in a ramen comparison video. Has anyone tried them?
Any Ramen enthusiasts?
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Thanks, I love to cook, and often try to challenge myself with new dishes and flavors.
yes, most instant ramen sold in US grocery stores contains a laundry list of ingredients that probably aren't the healthiest choice.
Momofuku (posted above) and Immi offer healthier alternatives, but they're typically mail order only.
It depends on what you want. Restaurants will be serving fresh made noodles that were never dehydrated. But there are ramen noodles in stick form that are shelf stable. It's not quite the chewy texture and flavor of fresh noodles though.
I like good packaged one as well as anything in between to the real deal.
One thing I don't like as much in the real deal is that some of them has a lot of kansui / alkali (lye water) in it. It is to make the noodle more aromatic and chewy but if not done well it turn the noodle bitter. The same also happen to the Chinese noodle where ramen originate from, but a lot of restaurants would specifically air out their noodle over a day or half before they are cooked to reduce that. Many Japanese people don't mind it as they got used to it, I can tell right away in the real deal.
If anything the real deal ramen is probably not going to be healthier than the packaged one due to the amount of fat in the broth. It does taste better but I think there is no way it can be healthier. My favorite of the packaged one is the Nongshim Soon (vegetarian), and Nissin Demae's Sesame Oil.
One thing I don't like as much in the real deal is that some of them has a lot of kansui / alkali (lye water) in it. It is to make the noodle more aromatic and chewy but if not done well it turn the noodle bitter. The same also happen to the Chinese noodle where ramen originate from, but a lot of restaurants would specifically air out their noodle over a day or half before they are cooked to reduce that. Many Japanese people don't mind it as they got used to it, I can tell right away in the real deal.
If anything the real deal ramen is probably not going to be healthier than the packaged one due to the amount of fat in the broth. It does taste better but I think there is no way it can be healthier. My favorite of the packaged one is the Nongshim Soon (vegetarian), and Nissin Demae's Sesame Oil.
I like to make ramen at home and add kimchi and soy sauce. Sometimes an egg.
Doesn't compare to a good tonkotsu bowl at a ramen house, though
Doesn't compare to a good tonkotsu bowl at a ramen house, though
Have you ever tried Sun Noodles?
https://sunnoodle.com/find-us/
They supply many of the Ramen restaurants in the NYC/NJ area.
I've seen their noodles in the refrigerated section of Hmart and other Asian supermarkets.
I just had them in kimchi flavor. Noodle texture being more traditional is more sensitive to time and potentially better to some, off putting to others. If you don’t force the tall bird nest of noodles down fully into the water quickly you get uneven doneness.
Good ingredients but because I add veggies, dry ramen “stuff” and eggs the bountiful flavor pack they include doesn’t add enough flavor in my book, so I add extra ramen appropriate “seasoning “ (likely with salt and msg) to taste or in the case of kimchi, actual kimchi which adds plenty of flavor
Woodmans has them in the “natural foods” area typically but they sort of come and go.
Both are difficult to find on the shelf.
I have rice seasoning with sesame seeds I sometimes add but the selection of prepackaged ramen is much more slight in this area than when I was in college (swear there were 80+ in selection)
I have had another brand of sesame that came with a sesame oil pack but haven’t found Nongshim in vegetarian flavor in many years.
The thing that gets me is that dry unflavored bulk ramen seems to be more expensive than in the little packets, that’s before obtaining seasonings and anything else you will add
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What reason? MSG? Oil? Sodium? Smell? Or just it is a college food?
Ex wife is only eating this brand (A-Sha, looks like the parent company of momofuku) because it is not fried and it is very chewy (using high gluten flour I think). Personally not my kind of noodle but that's just preference. The flavoring package is where each brand gets you hooked and what makes and breaks a preference.
Oh, one more suggestion: Prima Taste from Singapore. Kind of expensive but their flavoring package is the bomb.
https://www.amazon.com/Prima-Taste-...cphy=9198079&hvtargid=pla-2281435179298&psc=1
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99 Ranch has Nissin Damae and I think Safeway sometimes have the Nongshim Soon in the Asian section. About Nongshim, I like the regular one too but the vegetarian one is not too spicy so I can eat more before losing my taste buds and not taste anything. I normally don't eat vegetarian in other brands but Korean's spicy level is another dimension.
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Yeah, I like spicy food but some like Shin are too much.
Then the vegetarian ones are the good compromise. Discovered them when I was working for a Korean company. Update: Safeway sometimes have Nongshim Soon in the Asian section.
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I'm more of a noodle guy instead of a broth guy (not a Japanese so the priority is different). To me the priority is the noodle texture (compromise between the chew and the aroma of the wheat, the MSG (lots and lots of umami please), and the aroma of the noodle (sesame oil? tallow? chicken fat with ginger and scallion / green onion? all of the above please).
I see the charm of pork bones and pork belly char siu but that's not something I can eat everyday like a shoyu instant ramen with sesame oil. Yes I was a one-pack-a-day-man for almost 2 decades.
I'm not a sesame oil kind of guy. Pressed sesame oil makes me nauseous. Roasted sesame seeds are fine, but oil makes me want to wretch.
I kind of like udon and soba. Udon has a very different bite than ramen. Soft and squishy rather than chewy.
That's a different kind of noodle really. There's instant ramen, dried stick ramen, and fresh ramen. What most people think of as restaurant ramen is the fresh kind that has a yellowish color.
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Noodles every Friday. It's a religious tradition in my faith.
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they are fried in seed oils.
