Nissin 出前 (Demae) Ramen

Name: Demae Ramen Variety: Tokyo Shoyu Distributor: Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. Japan Noodle: Ramen Flavoring: Dry soup base + liquid shoyu concentrate + dry nori topper Preparation: Standard Notes: Packaging looks and feels high quality

Alex:

Back to roots for this Japanese candidate. It seems that the Nissin of Top Ramen and Cup Noodles fame is actually the American arm of the parent Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd. Japan - producer of this line of premium ramen, not typically available in the States.
I was struck first by the soft *puff* of air upon opening the liquid seasoning and smooth, homogeneous pour. The stuff just seemed fresher than I've seen in other varieties that insist on separating the oil from the concentrate. Also of note: sheer quantity of noodles far greater than average.
Noodles had a real full-mouth feel, being thicker and more substantial than the poor American analogue, Top Ramen. The real plus for me was two facts about the nori (shaved seaweed) packet:
1) Sealed separate from the dry soup base
2) Legitimate, fresh, aromatic wafers that took up the soup well

Despite being in keeping with Japanese minimalism, I was surprised at the very conservative flavor of the soup, and was perhaps expecting a little more pizazz from a "premium" variety.
This is the kind of quality I would expect from a name like Nissin Japan. A timeless classic in the world of instant ramen, if there ever was one.





Anne Marie:

Overall a very pleasant Ramen experience. Although I wouldn't characterize the noodles as the highest quality I've tried, they certainly didn't have that slightly overarching starchy taste that can detract from the flavor of the broth. The broth itself at first seemed rather subtle, but then I realized that the flavors weren't bland they were just less pronounced. A softer Ramen broth, but with much more interest than your run-of-the-mill chicken broth.

I appreciated the dried nori shavings (a generous amount as we split it between two bowls), and liked the contrast between the warm, soft noodles and broth with the slightly crunchy nori. My one complaint however is that I did not try the soup before adding the nori. I relate it to how I never put soy sauce on good sushi b/c I find the sauce overpowers the natural flavor of the sushi. In that way I think the nori slightly overpowered the taste of the Ramen. It still tasted quite good, yes, but it took a little bit away from the natural flavors of the Ramen. Next time I'll leave the nori off and add it for select bites.

Jah Jan Mien

Name: Jah Jan Mien Variety: Mi Tuong Fried Soybean Distributor: Wei Lih Food Industrial Co., Ltd. Noodle: Flat ramen Flavoring: Dry miso packet + soybean concentrate in oil Preparation: Decant and mix Notes: "One pack, two taste!"

Alex:

This is my first foray into Taiwanese ramen territory. The first thing that entered my mind, actually, was my mother's homemade sukiyaki - heavy on the takenoko - with a scent like delicate bamboo shoots in light soy sauce. I think it was the nostalgia (and not the flavor) doing the talking, though.

There was a sheen of oil on the surface that I thought might be either spicy or flavor packed, but I think it was just oily. Though I did enjoy the miso-soup-like taste for about 80% of the bowl, turns out there were many insoluble ingredients in the packet of concentrate that gave the soup a gritty finish. I found the flatter noodle texture to be pretty easy going, and offset the denser soybean cloud towards the bottom rather nicely. This packet might make a nice alternative appetizer course for a more substantial bento box or donburi-style lunch.




Anne Marie:

I enjoyed the different texture of the noodles in this Ramen (flatter and thinner, thus making the noodles seem to be of higher dough quality than other Ramen noodles). In terms of broth flavor, I again appreciated the two packets, but was not blown away. The Taiwanese flavor is notably different than your typical packaged Ramen, so I appreciated the variety, but I did not find the spices and oil tastes to be interesting enough. I would eat this type again, but I likely would not choose it out of a crowd of other, better varieties. I would like to try more Taiwanese or similarly flavored Ramens to compare their quality to this one. Good, but unremarkable.

Indo Mie Instant Noodles

Name: Indo Mie Instant Noodles Variety: Rasa Soto Mie Distributor: Indofood Noodle: Ramen Flavoring: Powdered "bumbu" sauce + Chili powder + Minyak spiced oil Preparation: Standard Notes: Halal-friendly cuisine

Alex:

"Soto Mie" is the name of a common brothy fare, popular in many of the peninsular and island nations of southeast Asia that I would liken to pho in taste and clarity. The Indonesian varieties have a reputation for impressive flavor, scaled by the complexity of preparation. This 3-seasoning sachet from Jakarta-based Indofood is no exception.

Distinctive ginger and coconut milk flavor take the spotlight, with pleasing highlights of lime. The chili tends to lurk in the back of the throat. The size and power of the flavor dwarfs the physical quantity of seasoning. I appreciated this frugality.

The thin soup was both rich and smooth, and as pleasing to smell wafting out of the bowl as it was to sip. Olfactory potency further evidenced by my involuntary urges, in 2 minute intervals over the past hour, to smell whatever of the oil remains on my hands.

The only obvious room for improvement is in noodle quality. The gauge of the noodle is, to use the Japanese classics as a benchmark, close to Nissin's Top Ramen. Something closer to the girth of Sapporo Ichiban could easily have made this a five-stick meal.




Anne Marie:

I actually would not purchase this Ramen variety a second time. It's not that I'm not a fan of ginger, I just appreciate it as an accent flavor as opposed to the main event. The overall Ramen quality was good for what the flavors were, but it just did not please my palate. I found the lime tasting like a lemon and I spent most of the time trying to figure out whether I really was tasting citrus or if the ginger had just gone bad. The chili added a bit of a bite, but not enough to counteract the main flavor. The taste also lingered in my mouth far too long, overpowering the other flavors in the soup. If you love ginger, perhaps you'll appreciate this manufactured ginger flavor, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

香辣牛肉麵

Name: 香辣牛肉麵 Variety: Peppered Beef Flavor Distributor: Ve Wong Noodle: Ramen Flavoring: Beef in concentrated liquid seasoning + Dry veggie packet with powdered seasoning Preparation: Standard Notes: Product Code - 21191; Packaging Detail - 30/90 gr. Metalized Bag

Alex:

Smells like its going to be spicier than it is. Oil is subtler than advertised "spicy" varieties, but definitely catches the tongue.

Props go to the veggies. We have full on baby bok-choi bits here, with the actual leaf texture and flavor still in tact. The beef could be identified as beef (not a trivial feat).

Stock finishes saltier than the average - that's damn salty, for the record.





Anne Marie:

Noodle Quality:
Of the few instant ramen varieties I have tried to date, the noodles for this particular one actually rank fairly high (definitely better than the standard Maruchan ramen noodles). A slightly thicker noodle, but certainly not drier made for a gummier, and seemingly more al dente (if that is a term adopted by more than just the Italians to describe noodles) pasta. The good quality noodles thus did not detract from the overall sauce + noodle experience.

Sauce Integrity:
I appreciate instant ramen that comes with an oil packet in addition to the dry seasonings. This particular packet also contained the meat (beef) which I give major kudos to them for not drying the meat with the veggies in the dry seasoning packet. The meat was actually palatable (as opposed to the cup noodles meat which I inevitably throw out because reconstituted chicken just does not work for me) and the texture was that of roast beef/pot roast (only a tiny version of course). The veggies in the dry seasoning packet also reconstituted well and I was not reminded of the fact that i was eating rehydrated cardboard like so often is the case.

Overall Ramen Experience:
We cooked the noodles until slightly softened in the boiling water and added the two sauce packets while still cooking the noodles for the extra 2-3 minutes. Perhaps this changed the flavor slightly (for the better) rather than adding the powder after the noodles had already absorbed the liquid. The first bite made me think it was going to be spicy, but that didn't really pan out. The flavors were certainly stronger than the average instant ramen and it seemed that each bite had a slightly different character to it, which I appreciated. The flavors fell a little flat for my taste, but overall I was quite impressed with the combination of spices I would have liked the oil to have played a larger role, supplying more of a distinguishable taste perhaps.

1/2