Brand: Sapporo Ichiban (Sanyo Foods Corp.) 
Flavour: Miso
Country: Japan
Contents: Soup base only
Net Weight: 100g
Rating: 4,5/5

“Cook in 3 minutes”

Writing about Sapporo Ichiban’s array of flavours (Original, Miso, Hot & Spicy as well as Beef, Chicken, Shrimp coming up next) will become repetitious because they’re all great, mysteriously flavourful, just salty enough and perfect in noodle consistency. That pervasive roasted taste, that colorful packaging, that simplicity. You can’t go wrong. Miso offers exactly what you expect: a heftier soya taste and opaque broth. Beef and Shrimp flavours are in the can - scans and minimal notes to be posted soon.

Brand: Bình Tây (?)
Flavour: Mushroom (nâ’m hu’o’ng)
Country: Vietnam
Contents: Soup base + tiny oil pouch
Net Weight: 80g
Rating: 2/5 - What?

“Vegetarian Instant Noodle”

This is perhaps one of the most attractive instant noodle packages I’ve ever encountered. Tiny in size, eye-splittingly yellow and featuring mushroom as its only illustration? Amazing. The contents? Not so much. Enjoyable for its thin noodles that cook almost instantly, this ramen oddity (of an unidentifiable company) offers very little more than a faint taste of “veggies” for its broth, let alone its promised mushroom taste. Gone in no more than 60 seconds, this is quite the forgettable noodle, which is even too small to be somewhat fulfilling. 

Note: I perhaps added too much water to the whole affair, diluting possible tastiness, but I’m usually good at judging these things. In any case, I’ll probably try it again someday to make sure nothing went wrong…in which case, I’ll let you know! 

Brand: Sapporo Ichiban (Sanyo Foods Corp.)
Flavour: Hot & Spicy Chicken 
Country: Japan
Contents: Soup base pack only
Net Weight: 100g 
Rating: 4/5 - Yes!

“0g Trans Fat”

In my attempt to complete my experience of Sapporo Ichiban’s classic flavours, which I’ll be reviewing in the coming weeks, I stumbled upon this newcomer: Hot & Spicy chicken, or the ramen equivalent of the half & half ice tea. Indeed: you know how amazing equal amounts of lemonade and ice tea are? This pack of instant noodles does the same thing with its chicken flavour, which was clearly mixed with spicy broth, in equal amounts. As a result, you get a broth that is not too spicy - like most of the “spicy” variety of noodle, mostly offered by Nong Shim - yet still totally tastes like chicken! As per usual with Sapporo Ichiban, the noodles have this slightly roasted taste which makes them infinitely superior to most bare-bones brands. Stunning!

Tips: Add an egg for additional meta-chicken enjoyment. And corn, as suggested!

Brand: Oh! Ricey (Vina Acecook) 
Flavour: Chicken
Original Country: Vietnam
Contents: Soup base pack, oil, dehydrated vegetables 
Net Weight: 70g
Rating: 4,5/5 - Personal Favorite!

“Made with Japanese Technology”

Instant pho soup is somewhat of an anomaly in the instant noodle world - and a thoroughly welcome one! Indeed, Vina Acecook’s Oh Ricey! (stressing the rice noodles instead of the usual wheat noodles) is one of my personal favourite brands. The rice noodles cook faster than any other type and this package, which comes with the powdered broth, a pouch of flavourful oil and dehydrated vegetables packs an unexpected punch of garlic - which mixes with the chicken flavour to create an overall surprisingly complex taste not usually found in instant packages of this sort. One major downside, though, is that at a meagre 70g, Oh! Ricey’s pho gà will leave you craving for more - as most real pho soups usually do, though!

Tips: Be careful not to overcook the noodles! And chives, as always, make the whole experience better. 

Brand: Paldo 
Flavour: Lobster (King Cup)
Original Country: Korea 
Contents: Soup base pack only + negligible dehydrated vegetables 
Net Weight: 110g 
Rating: 3,5/5 - Satisfying!

“Since 1984”

Korean instant ramen are slightly problematic in that the odds of them all tasting the same - and by that I mean varying shades of overbearingly spicy kimchi flavour over thicker and fulfilling noodles - are extremely high. This lobster-flavoured (yeah, right!) “king-size” cup does suffer from that problem to some extent (the synthetic lobster flavour eclipsed by unwarranted amounts of chilli) but overall, this offering from the very decent Paldo company manages to be quite tasty and slighty above the similarly-tasting ramen cups out there. The big cup format is ideal for portability and this bowl - which I sometimes snack on at school - will most likely satisfy as well as energize and clear up your sinuses with its spiciness! 

Recommended for: Cold days and school breaks!

Brand: Sapporo Ichiban (Sanyo Foods Corp.)
Flavour: Original
Country: Japan
Contents: Soup base pack only 
Net Weight: 100g
Rating: 5/5 - Classic!

“Traditional Quality of Sapporo Ichiban”

As far as bare-bones instant ramen noodles go (featuring nothing but the soup base and the dehydrated noodles), very few brands can beat Sapporo Ichiban’s original flavor. As classic as it gets, Sapporo Ichiban’s seminal “classic” flavor is rivaled by very few - only in status, perhaps by Nissin’s Chikin Ramen - the first instant ramen noodle introduced on the market in the late 1950’s. Sapporo Ichiban came on the market in 1966 so you know what that means: a serious, no-fucking-around pure ramen taste; noodles with a slight and unexpected toasted flavor and a clear, light soyu broth. Don’t let the minimal contents fool you: this is simple ramen noodle but this is no dollar store Mr. Noodle. A classic ramen taste for those days were you just feel like going back to basics. 

Recommended enhancements: Chopped chives or a hard boiled egg are a no-brainer in this situation. Enjoy plain as well for an ultimate hot ‘n’ salty experience.