Nissin Instant Yakisoba

Whenever I go to my local Asian grocery store, the first place I go to is the back corner. It's a thirty-foot by thirty-foot square dedicated to nothing but different kinds of ramen and other instant noodles. The last time I was there, they were busy renovating the area, but one thing did catch my eye as I was rummaging through the vast quantities of noodles: a five pack bag of Nissin Instant Yakisoba noodles. I couldn't resist: I had to buy a bag and taste them immediately.

I quickly learned that Nissin's Yakisoba ramen isn't your typical instant-noodle treat. To start, it's not as overbearingly salty as most other ramen; it's actually a little sweet, with a well-rounded group of flavors instead of just one or two noticable ones. Second of all, and probably most importantly, instead of being boiled for a few minutes in a pot, it's boiled in a small pan and finished by stir-frying, giving an old classic a new twist.


Unlike most of the other ramen I buy there, this was entirely in Japanese, so I really had to stumble my way through making it. 220 mL (slightly less than a cup) of water goes into a small frying pan, and as soon as it comes to a boil, the noodles and sauce packet go in. The sauce powder, upon a preliminary sniff, smelled heavily of soy, but not much else.

As it cooked, I followed one of the diagrams on the back of the package and pulled the noodles apart with a fork, stirring it every now and then to make sure everything cooked evenly. As the soupy sauce started to thicken, it started to gain a nicer, sweeter smell as well, and when it had thickened enough that it was no longer waterlike in consistency, I pulled it off the heat and got ready to enjoy my yakisoba.

In addition to the sauce packet, the package came with an additional, smaller packet of finely crushed green seaweed that was supposed to be sprinkled on top, but I decided to hold off on that for the time being.

The noodles (sans seaweed) had a full, rounded out flavor that contained hosin sauce, soy sauce, five spice powder (the cinnamon and star anise were especially noticeable, but not overpoweringly so,) and ginger. Every flavor complimented one another without it being either too salty nor too sweet, and the touch of ginger added just a hint of spicy to the mix. All in all, they were very, very good.

...but then I added the seaweed. The little bit of seaweed in the pouch made the entire dish taste very grassy and vaguely like low tide; it singlehandedly knocked out the other flavors, much to my disappointment. But had it not been for that, it would have been very good. Next time I'll make sure to leave the seaweed out.

Ramen Review 9: Nissin Chow Mein Kung Pao Chicken Flavor

Nissen Chow Mein, Kung Pao Flavor.

Ease of Preparation: 6/10.
Add water and contents of vegetable packets to the bowl; cover and microwave for six minutes; stir in contents of seasoning packet and "liquid" packet; let stand 1 minute before serving. Like the beef flavor I reviewed earlier, this gets a couple points off for the six-minute microwaving time and the very flimsy bowl that needed the support of a plate underneath it in order to be removed from the microwave after heating.

Vegetable packet: 8/10
Onions, green onions, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, small bits of meat-like TVP, rather nice chunk of dried red chile pepper (hot!). This flavor also came with a small pouch of chopped nuts and a third pouch containing hoisin sauce and a small amount of hot chile oil.

Taste: 7/10
Tasty but not exceptional. The nuts were virtually indetectable in the final product and really added nothing to the flavor, which was predominately hoisin saucy with some mushroom backnotes. The texture was decent thanks to the occasional lumps of TVP.

Spiciness: 7/10
Nice background heat from beginning to end with frequent explosions of FIRE provided by the generous chunks of birdseye pepper. Made my nose run! Won't be hot enough for hard-core chiliheads but it was good enough for me.

Overall rating: 8/10 - Recommended.

Relevant links:
Nissin Home Page
Nissin Chow Mein Kung Pao Chicken Flavor Nutrition Facts (at www.thedailyplate.com)

Ramen Review 8: Nissin Cup Noodles Premium Homestyle Chicken

There's a new look in the ramen aisle: Elegant and sophisticated, black and white trimmed with red and gold. It's Nissin's new Cup Noodles Premium. The packaging is gorgeous, and the price is 50% higher than standard Cup Noodles. Is it worth it?

Ease of Preparation: 10/10
Like all Cup Noodles, all one needs do is peel back the paper lid a bit, fill to the line with boiling water, and wait three minutes.

Vegetable Packet: N/A
Cup noodles have the veggies already in the cup, so there's no packet. And though standard Cup Noodles varieties are generally pretty sparse with the veg, the Premium variety is loaded. There are lots of carrots, corn kernels, leeks, and mushrooms, and there's also a pretty decent amount of dehydrated chicken pieces as well. Outstanding.

Seasoning Packet: N/A
Like the vegetables, the seasoning is already in the cup.

Taste: 9/10
The flavor was nearly identical to Nissin's standard chicken flavored Cup Noodles - in other words, delicious - but it had a richer chicken flavor. Every forkful of noodles brought a generous portion of vegetables and a few bits of chicken meat with it. This ramen really does deserve the "Premium" label.

Spiciness: 0/10
This isn't marketed as a spicy ramen.

Overall: 9/10
Highly recommend.

Ramen Review 7: Nissin Cup Noodles with Shrimp

Ease of Preparation: 10/10
There can't be anything simpler than "Pour in boiling water."

Vegetable Packet: N/A
Vegetables and seasonings are already mingled in the cup with no need to add them separately. Cup Noodles are notorious for not having very generous vegetable additions, but this cup had a few peas, kernels of corn, and tiny dehydrated shrimps.

Seasoning Packet: N/A
Like the vegetables, the seasoning was already in the cup.

Taste: 9/10
Standard delicious Nissin ramen broth, but with subtle hints of seafood. I haven't yet found a Cup Noodles broth that wasn't completely awesome.

Spiciness: 0/10 - this isn't marketed as a spicy ramen.

Overall: 9/10 - Recommended

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Ramen Review 6: Nissin Tokyo Shoyu Flavor (Imported)

Ease of Preparation: 8/10

Place noodles, soup base, and veggies into the bowl; add boiling water and allow to stand 5 minutes, covered. Uncover, stir in seasoning packet, and enjoy.

Vegetable Packet: 5/10
Shredded nori. Although quite delicious, it would have been better with a sprinkling of minced scallion.

Seasoning Packets: 10/10
The soup base - chicken, seafood, and pork flavors in a well-balanced and delicious blend - is excellent. A second packet contained a bit of soy sauce and some chicken-flavored vegetable oil. There was just enough seasoning to give a rich, deep flavor to the soup that was very satisfying.

Taste: 10/10
Marvelous. The soy sauce was not at all overwhelming.

Spiciness: 0/10 - This is not marketed as a spicy ramen.

Overall: 9/10 - Recommended.

Ramen Review 2 - Nissin Cup Noodles Souper Meal, Chicken

Nissin Cup Noodles Souper Meal, Chicken Flavor with Vegetable Medley

Ease of Preparation: 8/10
Add water, contents of vegetable packet, and soup flavoring; cover and microwave for five minutes; stir in flavor enhancer packet; allow to stand two minutes before serving. Roomy and sturdy paper bowl required no extra support to remove from microwave.

Vegetable Packet: 8/10
Fairly standard packet with cabbage, carrot, corn, onion, mushroom, parsley, and little chunks of TVP. There was a generous amount, though, and the mushroom and onion pieces were nice and big.

Taste: 8/10
Rich and enjoyable chicken flavor broth is tasty and satisfying, though not quite as good as Lipton Cup-A-Soup (which is the gold standard for powdered chicken broths in my opinion.) This Souper Meal also includes an envelope labeled "Flavor Enhancer" which is meant to be stirred in just before serving. In the past, I've found that I don't really enjoy the soup as much with this oil packet stirred in (it tastes like slightly rancid sesame oil and I found that it didn't do much "enhancing.")

Spiciness: 0/10
This is not marketed as a spicy ramen, so no points will be deducted for this zero score.

Overall rating: 8/10 when prepared without Flavor Enhancer. Recommended.


Relevant links:
Nissin Home Page
Nissin Souper Meal Nutrition Facts (from www.thedailyplate.com)

Ramen Review 1 - Nissin Chow Mein, Teriyaki Beef Flavor

This blog entry introduces a new semi-regular feature to Dave's Cupboard: Ramen Reviews. I've loved ramen noodles ever since I was a kid. They're cheap, flavorful, and filling, and they're available in a huge number of varieties! Although I'm starting off with a relatively common Nissin Chow Mein bowl today, expect to find some more unusual flavors and noodle styles as I rustle through the ramen aisle of my local Asian groceries in search of less familiar fare.

Nissen Chow Mein, Teriyaki Beef Flavor.

Ease of Preparation: 6/10.

Add water and contents of vegetable packets to the bowl; cover and microwave for six minutes; stir in contents of seasoning packet and oil packet; let stand 1 minute before serving. Easy, I know, but points off for the six-minute microwaving time and a very flimsy bowl that needed the support of a plate underneath it in order to be removed from the microwave after heating.

Vegetable packet: 8/10

Onions, green onions, carrot, shiitake mushrooms, small bits of meat-like TVP.

Taste: 9/10

The delicious "teriyaki flavor" was more like a combination of teriyaki and hoisin sauce and reminded me of Moo Shu. The shiitake mushrooms, besides being a rare treat, added a richer depth of flavor, and the bits of TVP scattered here and there were tasty and added some textural variety as well (though you'd never in a million years mistake them for beef!) Although a touch on the sweet side despite the addition of vinegar powder, it should be noted that the flavoring packet now has sucralose as a sweetener rather than the glucose it once contained.

Spiciness: 0/10

This was not a spicy ramen, but because it isn't marketed as spicy, no points will be deducted from the final score.

Overall rating: 8/10 - Recommended.

Relevant links:
Nissin Home Page
Nissin Chow Mein Teriyaki Beef Flavor Nutrition Facts (at www.thedailyplate.com)