GoGo noodles

I was pleasantly surprised with Nissin Men No Tatsujin Miso Flavor ramen. I think I’m starting to like miso flavored ramens more and more. As soon as I opened the package and saw the noodles, I knew I was going to like it. Turns out I was right. The texture of the noodles were soft and chewy and very slurpy. I also liked that the miso was in paste form. Overall, the miso flavor was mild and not too salty. Adding bean sprouts helps balance out the strong, rich flavor of the miso.

Introducing a new milk curry flavor for cup noodle lovers! Curry plus milk? Makes sense…sounded odd at first but Thai curries usually have coconut milk, so not so far out. It’s very interesting to me how the traditional Japanese diet doesn’t include dairy products like milk and cheese but when used, they have found a way to combine it with flavors that are strangely tasty. A few examples: camembert plus cod, tofu and cheese, curry and cheese. And yes, it does taste as good as it looks. The curry flavor is mild yet full of flavor and the texture of the noodles are soft, chewy and airy. The chunks of potato and soy add lots of texture and makes for a heartier meal. The Japanese are so clever! They think of everything, there’s a nifty pull tab at the bottom of the cup. Has this tab always been at the bottom of all the cup noodles and I just never noticed? I was very lucky to get my hands on this special treat as it’s not available in the states. Why are we always stuck with the boring flavors like shrimp and beef?

I love instant bowl and cup noodles! So easy to make, cooks fast and no mess to clean up. I had that msg craving this afternoon so I went to the noodle basket that I got on my birthday to see what I could cook up. As I dug through the basket, I found quite the variety of treats, there were filipino pancit noodles, korean noodles, vietnamese pho ga….and then I hit gold! A japanese curry udon bowl! Drooool….my mouth watered as the boiling water hit the seasoning powder and the aroma of delicious curry wafted up my nostrils. The wait was excruciating but finally…it was time to enjoy. Peeled back the lid to find that the soup was not as thick as the picture on the lid. Noodles were wide with a soft, almost spongy texture that soaked up the oh so good curry broth. I liked the big pieces of dehydrated carrots, scallions and pork! Yum yum.

Donated to the cause by Nat and not attacked by her cat. Sunday morning before the hangover kicks in, I’m hungry and want a quick fix. I chose these noodles because all you have to do is pour in hot water, cover and you’re done! No pot, no bowl, no mess to clean up. The hot water dispenser is my best friend. I peeled back the cover and was surprised to see such a thick piece of gluten or tofu wafer or whatever it is. The aroma of bonito filled my nose as the water hit the seasoning. After about 5 minutes, I peeled off the entire cover and found a tasty meal. The tofu thing was a little sweet and absorbed a lot of the broth. I like the noodles a lot because they are wide and slurpy. Thanks Nat! These were awesome.

There isn’t a distinct flavor that comes to mind when eating these noodles and it wasn’t very spicy. I decided to use only half of the palm oil because I just read in an article about how much saturated fat is in palm oil – about 50%! Not like eating a packet of instant noodles a week is any better for you – with or without the palm oil. But it made me feel a little better. Overall, these noodles were only okay, not bad but not great. Maybe because I didn’t use all of the oil??

I didn’t have much to add except for cilantro and my usual green onions.

*Product of Japan

The infamous Spam. People either love it or hate it. I used to hate it. In high school, I remember reading a magazine article about how cannibals on an island said it tasted like human flesh. So every time I saw Spam or people eating Spam, I would imagine someone in the Spam factory grinding up arms and legs and packing it into that familiar shape of luncheon meat. Yum. Fortunately, thanks to my boyfriend, I am totally over my disgust for Spam. On our last trip to Hawaii, we found Hot & Spicy Spam which was basically tobasco flavored Spam. We’ve also tried the Garlic flavored Spam which, to my disappointment wasn’t very garlicky.

If you want to add something more substantial to your bowl of noodles I highly recommend Spam, it’s quick and easy and tastes good! I decided to fry the Spam with an egg. Keep in mind though, that there’s a lot of sodium in Spam, so if you do decide to add it in your noodles, it will make for an extra salty meal. Either boil it to reduce some of the sodium before adding or use less of the seasoning packet.

I love Yakisoba and was looking forward to trying these noodles that Fanny gave me.

When I peeled back the lid, I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of big pieces of dehydrated veggies. The yellow packet contained a sweet black bean and oil sauce. The smaller purple packet contained what looked like furikake? The directions on how to cook the noodles weren’t very clear as it was in Japanese and there were no pictures.

Sucks that I can’t read Japanese because the yaki soba turned out completely different than the picture on the lid. As you can see, I think I added too much water and maybe I was supposed to add the seasoning packets to the noodles after they were cooked? Oh well, regardless of my boo boo, my ufo yakisoba still turned out very tasty. The noodles were smooth and the sauce was toasty, sweet and a gingery. I think I’m going give UFO yakisoba another try and ask Fanny how to cook this properly.

*Product of Japan

The neat thing about this noodle is it’s shape. It’s slightly concave in the middle so it’s the perfect fit for an egg. The cooking instructions are to place the noodles in a bowl, fill with boiling water and cover. The egg didn’t really cook through like it looks on the package. Maybe my water wasn’t hot enough….I cheated and used a hot water dispenser. There are no seasoning packets because these noodles were seasoned. Didn’t really taste like chicken but was yummy none the less.

*Product of Japan