Global Noodles + Soups

History + Importance

I have spent over $80 on purchasing a variety of Asian-inspired or imported quick noodles and soups from local stores, and from a new website called Noodelight.(Noodlelight closed December 2021, so the link has been removed.)But, before we begin this exploration, here are two of my biases: 1) I love soups and stews. 2) I love noodles and noodles in soups.

Soups + Stews Feed Population

In general, these packages of noodles + soups are cheap, quick to cook, and are very easy to upgrade by adding veggies or protein or even your own homemade broth. In fact, these packages are the base of many people’s breakfast, lunch or dinner all around the world.

• Historically, it is known that soup and stews are the foods of peasant and poor people throughout the world. Coupled with some protein source, and starch (potatoes, noodles, rice, etc.) these dishes can fill the stomach, extend limited meats and other foods, while satisfying people’s hunger pangs.
• When I was first on my own, I would often use cheap ramen noodles as a base for added bits of meat, and lots of veggies. (Though I have to admit I did not often use the seasoning packets that were included in the kit as they did not taste good to me.) This meal, critically would fill my stomach and provide the nutrition I needed, when I was low on funds.
• I also hiked and camped all over the Cascades and Olympics (in Washington state) and used these lightweight food packages for my quick and easy to make meals.

So when I look at the history of Instant Noodles + Soups, the notion of feeding the multitude again plays a key part. Three key reasons led to the invention of instant noodles.

• The experience of the post-WWII Japanese population experiencing severe food insecurity.
• US Aid gave the Japanese government wheat flour and oil that did not match Japanese cuisine. As a result they sponsored research into how to use the food for its population.
• A Taiwanese-born Japanese man, Momofuku Ando, was inspired to work on this project. However, it took until 1958 for him to come up with an instant noodle process; years after the need was most acute.

TheDieLine writes that one of Ando’s philosophies was “peace prevails when food suffices,” an ethos that has given the world a way to have a quick, inexpensive, and easy-to-eat meal that is also simple enough to adapt to local palates with the infusion of whatever’s handy in your fridge.

Future Posts

In many Asian and Southeast Asian countries, these noodle packages are a daily food source. So while the usual $0.99 USD ramen packs available in local USA stores, are not necessarily healthy or good tasting, internationally the quality of these noodle + soups can have impressive flavor, texture, and nutrition. (That is why I often prefer imported noodle soup products, if I am not making my own.) But keep in mind you really need to read the packaging, and ingredient list.

In this, and subsequent posts, I will write about some of the better tasting international instant noodles and/or soups I have purchased and cooked. Some are better than others, and I will indicate what I would recommend with a checkmark, and what I would add in to make it taste better. But all the ones I am listing are well liked world-wide.

• A checkmark in the title indicates my wholehearted approval in terms of its flavor and texture. Essentially, you could eat the package as-is and it would taste good without any additions or changes.
• I am not making any statement about the foods healthiness, since this is “prepared food” and inherently not the healthiest food you can eat.
• I have placed them in order of what I found the most flavorful.
• Expect more posts, as I bought a hell of a lot of packages!

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√ Singapore Curry Noodle Soup

Prima Taste’s Curry La Mian is a great, imported, smooth curry soup that is aromatic, with a mild heat, curry, and coconut milk flavor. These are wheat-based, steam-aired (not fried) lamian noodles, that were gratifyingly chewy and neutral in taste. The broth is seafood-based, and the package contains no MSG, artificial preservatives, coloring or flavors. (However, the ingredients do have naturally occurring MSG.)

• The whole package serves 2.
• Per serving: 350c, 44k, 9p, 1f and 950mg sodium.
• Total time, including washing and slicing the veggies, was ~12 minutes.
• Contains a large puck of noodles, curry packet, and a dried coconut milk packet.
• Heat: Has a very slight kick, but I call it mild with no lingering heat.

Cooking: The soup directions are to boil 2C water + soup packets, add the noodles, cover and reduce to a simmer for ~6-7 minutes. The front of the package shows chicken and cubed tofu being added to the dish. But, since I want to add veggie-based nutrition to this soup, I placed my sliced carrots and baby broccoli florets in the broth after it started to boil, and added four frozen chicken dumplings.

For serving I made one dish a soup, and the other had a bit of the sauce, but was made into a drier, noodle dish. I would buy this again for at $5.89 it was a good tasting and quick curry.

√ Japanese Ramen Noodle Soup

Japanese Soba Noodle Soup is a very comfy, vegetarian soup that warms the body on a dreary day. It contains two servings, and features wheat soba stick noodles with a veggie broth (leeks, potato, onion, carrot, etc.). The noodles are springy, but will soften as it is exposed to water. I read that Ramen-lovers slurp their noodles as fast as possible, in order to taste the noodles at their textural best. In Japan, slurping noodles are approved (1).

My spouse thought it had a fishy aftertaste, but there is no fish on the list of ingredients. There is MSG however, soy products, high in salt, and has added sugar and palm oil.

√ Vietnam Vifon Rice Noodles + Broth

Vietnamese “Phenom Penh” style of rice noodles and veggie broth soup that tastes good and clean.

• The whole package serves 2.
• Nutrition per serving: 300c, 63k, 12p, 3f, and 2000mg salt.
• Total time, including washing and slicing the veggies, was ~10 minutes.
• Contents were two bound straight noodles, and two broth packets. This makes it easy to make the soup on two different days.
• Heat: None.

Cooking: I boiled 2C water, added the noodles (which I broke in half) in the serving bowl. Once boiling I added the soup broth packet to the water and turned off the heat. Then poured over the noddles and covered while it sat and “cooked” for ~3 minutes. For me, I added mushrooms, sliced bok choy, carrots, sliced scallions, and a dash of freshly ground lemon pepper.

There are no synthetic color, but does contain MSG, palm oil, soybean powder and celery.

Indonesian Mi Goreng Noodles

Jakarta, Indonesia makes these Mi Goreng BBQ flavored Instant Noodles. These wheat noodles were chewy, and carried a tiny bit of heat (very mild) and a slight aftertaste of BBQ sauce. The packet included 5 packets with ~1t dried fried shallots, seasoning powder, chili, and oil, as well as a sweet soy sauce. This is not a soup but a small, single serving noodle dish.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Nutrition per serving: 400c, 60k, 8p, 2f, and 670mg sodium.
• Total time, was ~8 minutes.
• Contents were one medium noodle puck, and 5 packets with 1t dried fried shallots, seasoning powder, seasoning chili + oil, and sweet soy sauce.
• Heat: Slight to none.

Cooking: Boil ~2C water, add the noodle puck and simmer for ~2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, add the packets to your bowl, and once cooked, add the drained noodles to the bowl and mix well. The photo on the package shows a medium boiled egg, peas, canned mushrooms (for some reason), carrots and something that looks like lettuce.

I would be okay eating this pack again, because it was exactly what it said it was, a small, cheap $0.99 bowl of flavored instant noodles. However, I do not really like the BBQ flavor in these noodles. I would of course add other ingredients to it, for instant ground pork or chicken and some veggies but I ate it as it was and it met the advertisemen. This noodle dish contains palm oil, and a fair amount of sugar.

One last comment, this package contains a lot of calories for such a little pack of noodles (although not the highest in the group). Too much for me, but for someone who needs those calories it would work ok. It also has MSG, TBHQ (more on this later in this series).

Korean Paldo Cheese Ramen

Paldo Cheddar Cheese Teumsae Ramen Ramyun (extra spicy) is a hot and creamy soup, with firm textured noodles. It does not taste like cheddar cheese has been added, but the powdered addition probably plays a part in making the soup creamy. The packaging is not in English, so I am unable to write about its ingredients or nutrition.

• The whole package serves 1.
• Nutrition per serving: 530c , but the rest is unknown.
• Total time, including washing and slicing the veggies, was ~10 minutes.
• Contents were a medium puck of noodles and a veggie packet, red + dried hot sauce packet, and a yellow dried cheese sauce.
• Heat: Has a lingering chili heat that actually made my nose run. I would call this a medium heat.

Cooking: I placed 2C water in a pot, placed in the dehydrated veggies, and heated until boiling, then added the chili packet and whisked well. I turned down the heat, added the cheese packet, noodles and two pork-filled dumplings. Lowered the heat to a simmer and cooked the soup ~5 minutes. The noodles and dumplings came out firm and chewy, a great texture. The soup was pepper-hot, with a lingering heat. My nose stopped running a minute after I finished the soup, but my mouth burned for a few minutes more.

The package shows a soup with scallions, mushrooms and chilis. Although it came with, what looked like a teaspoon of dried veggies, I added two dumplings and 4 chopped baby broccoli stems (left overs from yesterdays soup, above). But if I make this again, at $2.89 per package, I will make changes to the soup. I should also state that this is a very much liked package and sells well throughout Asia and the USA.

My Story

What a great couple of weeks this has been, as I start to eat my way through these instant soups + noodles. I anticipate writing several more posts, as I have a lot of food to finish eating and have limited myself to one package a day. But also, as I have more time to taste and write, I want to explore this phenomenon: What ingredients these packs actually contain? Why they are or are not healthy? What unites this type of quick packaged foods? Why are people so excited about these foods? Let me know of your favorites or things I may have missed.

—Patty

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Articles in this series.

Global Noodles + Soup 1 Intro on the series + reviews
Global Noodles + Soup 2 History + packages commonalities + reviews
Packaged Instant Noodles 3 Info on noodles + Koyo reviews
Instant Noodles + Soups Healthy 4 Info on health + reviews
Instant Noodles + Soups Feed the World 5 Emergency food + Lotus reviews
Focusing on Instant Phở 6 Discussing this soup + reviews
Making Phở at Home December 13, 2019
Noodles + Soup Etiquette 7 How to eat noodle soup + reviews
Instant Noodle + Soup Makers 8 Info on the manufacturers + reviews
Vita Ramen Noodles + Soup 9 Review on Vita Ramen packages