Among all the Japanese goodies my friend (H. A.) sent, the noodles were perhaps the stuff I was really looking forward to trying. I'm a noodle-head and ramen is my favorite among all Japanese dishes. Again, and endless amount of gratitude goes out to my awesome friend, H. A. All the noodles were amazing.
For this blog, I had to give 2 days to try the noodles. I gave a gap of 1 week per batch of noodles to somehow help me maintain a decent amount of calories since I'm really trying to maintain my weight. By the way, all noodles are products of Nissin Foods Group. Noodles Tasting Day 1: For the first batch, I tried the spicy ones. And to make the experience more special, I bought a bottle of soju and I paired the noodles with nori from H. A.
Instant Noodles #1: The first noodles on the list is a collaboration between Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto (a Tokyo-based ramen shop famous for their spicy ramen), Nissin Noodles (the iconic instant ramen maker), and 7-11 (the popular convenience store company. On the lid was a packet of spicy oil that's synonymous to the Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto Ramen Shop. The cup contained thick noodles, dehydrated tofu, vegetables, and meat.
The first thing that came to my mind when I had my first sip of the broth and first taste of the noodles was that this was "heaven in a cup". Everything was similar to the authentic Japanese ramen I've had. I love the tofu, the level of spice, the thick noodles and broth. Instant Noodles #2: The next noodles is this one on the picture - honestly, I don't know its name except that I know it's spicy... sorry! What really got me curious to try this is the some kind of spice level and it's on 4 and so I'll probably love this too. On the lid was (again) a packet, but instead of spicy oil it contained a spicy powder that you'll see on the photo below. The cup contained thin noodles, dehydrated seafood and vegetables.
Compared to the first instant noodles, this had thin noodles and a lighter broth. The spice level was enough to let me break a little sweat. Another thing that I appreciate about it is the serving size - it was smaller and so it meant lower calories that was beneficial for me who's very conscious with my weight... hehehe! A pro-tip that H. A. told me was to eat noodles with nori as much as possible. And indeed the experience of eating both cup noodles with nori added to the pleasure. It brought more texture and flavor. Unfortunately, I ate all of the nori for the first day of the taste test so there was none left for the second day.
Now on to the next set of noodles... Noodles Tasting Day 2: For Day 2, I had the more common variants of Nissin noodles - the seafood variant on the left and the curry variant on the right.
The curry variant contained the usual stuff - noodles, dehydrated meat and vegetables although I noticed that the amount of powder and seasoning were more substantial compared to the other cup noodles.
The seafood variant contained the same things - noodles, dehydrated seafood and vegetables as expected.
Instant Noodles #3: I took a first sip and bite of the curry variant since I'm a big fan of anything curry too. It had a thick broth and the noodles were firm. I like the strong curry flavor - it was so fragrant and the spice was mild. Would've been nice if it were spicier but it was still great. Instant Noodles #4: I then had a sip and bite of the seafood variant. Of course, it had a lighter taste to it and the texture of the noodles was nice. For people who love seafood, this would be a perfect comfort food esp. when the craving for noodles hit them.
To sum it all, everything tasted fantastic. But for the purpose of comparison, I'd like to share my opinion which (for me) were the best based on my own my personal preferences: 1. Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto and Nissin Curry I absolutely loved both due to their strong flavor, thick broth and spicy nature. As previously mentioned, I love spicy food so it was actually a no-brainer. 2. Spicy Seafood (small red cup) It comes second best because it was spicy and I liked the small serving size - it's perfect for me who's very particular with calorie intake. 3. Nissin Seafood Although it's at the bottom of my list, it doesn't necessarily mean that I didn't like it. The light flavor was appealing; it's just that I prefer stronger flavors which those at the top had. As a last note, I really enjoyed trying everything out and would really want to try more in the future. It was such a joy to slurp just like how a Japanese would enjoy his/her noodles. .. still learning the art of slurping though. Again, thanks H. A. for these delicious noodles. I couldn't get enough of them.