Ramen Review 11: Nissin Chicken Ramen - Imported

Nearly all the ramen I've reviewed so far has been pretty simple fare - instant noodles, seasoning packet, boiling water. This one is different. It's possible, of course, to just add boiling water and enjoy the noodles, but to be at it's best, a little more effort is required.

The "serving suggestion" on the front of the label shows the ramen served with a sunny-side up egg on top. The package instructions show how to prepare the noodles both with and without an egg.

Ease of Preparation: 4/10
There's a bit more to this than just adding boiling water. The ramen is round to fit a bowl and has a round indentation on the top to hold a raw egg. The egg is cracked into the depression and boiling water is added to just come up to the top of the noodles. Then the bowl is covered with plastic wrap, supposedly to steam for three minutes and poach the egg. That doesn't actually work, though - there just isn't enough residual heat once the water is in the bowl to cook the egg. Using a sharp knife, we made a small hole in the membrane covering the egg yolk, replace the plastic film over the bowl, and microwaved the bowl for about a minute and a half. The result was a perfectly cooked egg atop perfectly cooked chicken-flavored ramen noodles.

Vegetable Packet: N/A - No vegetable packet is provided.

Seasoning: 10/10
Nissin ramen has always had one of the best chicken flavors anywhere. In this case, it's not in the form of a packet, but already incorporated into the ramen. For added flavor, the ramen is also toasted.

Taste: 10/10
To serve, we stirred the cooked egg into the ramen and enjoyed the noodles. They were excellent. The egg added an additional flavor layer to the bowl and added textural interest. The toasted noodles cooked up al dente and delicious, and provided a chickeny broth at the bottom of the bowl. Overall an excellent bowl of noodles for lunch.

Overall: 9/10 - Recommended