Global Noodles + Soups 3: A discussion of the precooked noodles in instant noodles + soups packages. Followed by tastings of Chinese healthy instant noodles + soups, geared for the vegetarian and vegan, healthy eating USA communities.
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Instant Noodle Variations
FoodUnfolded writes that the production process of instant noodles has not changed much since its invention. The ingredients are mixed, the dough is rolled out, cut into noodles, steamed, dried, fried for a minute or two for dehydration, cooled, and then packed into individual units. Some varieties skip the frying step and are dehydrated using hot air; references 1, 2, and 3.
Ramen Noodles:
When sold in these packages, the noodles are cooked and dried. As part of the drying process, the noodles are compressed into a brick, or what I call a puck. As they cook, they unfurl to ~12” long, with wavy kinks and curls.
Wikipedia writes that Ramen noodle soup is a Japanese adaptation that combines Chinese wheat noodles, a meat or fish-based broth, with toppings. I believe a variation of this dish was introduced by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th Century, modified for Japanese taste.
Traditionally, the dried noodle puck (or block) was created by flash frying cooked noodles and drying them. This is still the most common preparation method used in Asia and Southeast Asia. In the 1990’s another method was perfected. This method is to dry the noodles by blowing hot-air (or bake) over the noodle pucks. A benefit of this style of drying is that it is lower in calories than fried noodles and seems to be preferred in Western countries.
- Standard ramen noodles are made with enriched wheat flour, sea salt, water and kansui (or potassium and sodium carbonate)
- They are shaped into blocks.
- Deep fried in soybean oil.
- Then dehydrated.
- Adding preservatives to the dehydrated noodle pucks.
Ramen soups now often have soy sauce, seafood, or miso flavors. But like most foods, there are regional differences. Here are some Japanese variations for examples: Tonkotsu features a pork bone broth. Hokkaido featuring miso broth. Mazemen which features a sauce, not broth.
Soba Noodles:
These are long, thin and round. I have seen them with a variety of tints, from beige to a light brown color. The dry noodles come in serving-sized bunches, often with a ribbon or paper band around them. They are straight sticks about 8 to 10 inches long. I see these mainly in Japanese soups.
Udon Noodles:
These packages are either dried, or packed in a way where they are squisy and moist. Usually Udon noodles are round, although they are sometimes oblong or square. Most varieties are about 12 inches long, which is why I sometimes cut them in half.
Wikipedia writes that udon noodles are a Japanese thick, wheat-flour noodle, often served hot in a soup. There are many stories behind the origin of udon, one dates it to 1241 AD.
- Kake Udon features the noodles in a dashi, soy sauce and mirin broth with sliced scallions.
- These noodles can be served chilled in the summer with sliced omelette, chicken and veggies (cucumbers, radish, pickled ginger)
- Tanuki Udon features a soup topped with tempura battered food.
- Karē Udon has a curry-flavored broth.
Rice Noodles:
Rice noodles are mainly made from rice flour, and water, but may contain tapioca or corn starch. These noodles can be transparent looking, gelatinous and chewy. They are not a cooked noodle, but hot water is poured over it and it sits covered for several minute to soften.
- Wikipedia writes, The origin of rice noodles dates back to China during the Qin dynasty when people from northern China invaded the south. Due to climatic conditions, the northern Chinese have traditionally preferred wheat and millet which grew in cold weather while the southern Chinese preferred rice which grew in hot weather. Noodles are traditionally made out of wheat and eaten throughout northern China so to adapt, northern cooks tried to prepare “noodles” using rice, thus inventing rice noodles.
Gluten Free Noodles
Imported Noodles + Soup are not usually gluten free packages due to manufacturing contamination in its factories. However, some manufacturers do make gluten free noodles, and all indications are that this is something done to cater to a USA audience. Below are some of the ingredients of these gluten free ramen noodles.
- Translucent rice noodles with tapioca or sweet potato starches
- Brown rice + buckwheat noodles
- Black, brown and white rice flour noodles
- Brown + white rice flour with bamboo extract noodles
- Brown rice + millet noodles
- Brown + white rice flour with purple sweet potato powder noodles
- Brown + white rice flour with wakame noodles
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Healthy Chinese Koyo Ramen Soups
Here is a taste test of 5 Koyo noodles + soups. What these all have in common is that these are small packages, servings for one, that contain healthier ingredients and reasonable nutrients. That is the key for this noodle soup, it is among the healthier and believe me instant noodle soups are not overall a healthy food. So finding healthy versions is great.
- All the wheat noodles are certified organic and use heirloom grains.
- No preservatives or artificial additives, non-GMO, + 0 trans fat.
- All very low sodium with a few labeled “low sodium” specifically
- No added MSG (although it often has mushroom powder added for flavor).
- They all have some seaweed or kelp powders.
- All have some soy products.
- Certified vegan.
- Cost ~$2.25 USD (on Amazon).
From reading between the lines, it seems that this may be a Chinese product, imported into the USA, and distributed to a lot of healthy-food grocery stores. I found this in El Cerrito Natural Grocery store and have no doubt it is in other similar places. However, their web presence does not really provide a lot of information about the company, where it is manufactured, or who owns the business.
In terms of the overall quality of these soups, I can confidently say that the soup broths are of higher quality. The baked noodles are not the best and are not “ramen” noodles, but also they are not the worst. These noodles work well enough in most of these soups. But also, the variety of flavors of their broth are each good, light and filling.
√ Koyo Lemongrass Ginger Ramen Soup
Koyo’s Lemongrass Ginger ramen soup is a tasty broth with good, baked noodles. While the broth tasted good, it had the barest hint of lemongrass that I think I may have tasted at one point, while the ginger was there and wonderfully mild. If I was to cook this broth again, I might simmer the broth and add some finely chopped lemongrass to the broth to up its flavor.
- The whole package serves 1.
- Per serving: 210c, 43k, 7p, 2f and 660mg sodium.
- Total time was ~5 minutes.
- Contains a package of wheat noodle puck and packet of broth.
- Heat: None
Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, add the noodle puck and soup packets, and cook for ~4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for ~2 minutes.
The packaging show adding sliced meat, something that looks like squash (?), scallion, and some green veggies. I added part of a chopped bok choy, mushroom, carrot and a sliced scallion.
√ Koyo Wakame Seaweed Ramen Soup
This was a good tasting soup with slurpy, chewy noodles. Given the seaweed in its title, I thought it might be too sea-weedy. However, it was a light, greenish, rich broth that had a good mouthfeel and taste. The overall flavor was warm, healthy and comforting. As with its sisters, this package had one puck of noodles and one packet containing broth and dried Wakame seaweed that was a nice subtle addition.
- The whole package serves 1.
- Per serving: 200c, 41k, 6p, 2f and 720mg sodium.
- Total time was ~5 minutes.
- Contains a package of wheat noodle puck and a packet of broth + dried seaweed.
- Heat: None
Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, add the noodle puck and soup packets, and cook for ~4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for ~2 minutes.
The packaging show adding chopped scallion, some kind of greens or seaweed, and other veggies I cannot identify. I did not add anything, although I thought cubed tofu would have been a great addition.
This package also has 1mg iron, 17mg calcium, and 104mg potassium.
Koyo Garlic Pepper Ramen Soup
The Garlic Pepper Ramen Soup is probably the most difficult to write, because the broth is subtle and has a great flavor, the noodles are okay, but together they are not my favorite from this company. I found the noodles too plain for this soup. The lack of noodle flavor really stuck out in this soup, and I would have preferred something that had both some color and flavor. Perhaps if they added actual ramen noodles, pepper or garlic powder to the noodles? Or perhaps if they used rice noodles?
- The whole package serves 1.
- Per serving: 210c, 43k, 7p, 2f and 720mg sodium.
- Total time was ~5 minutes.
- Contains a package of a wheat noodle puck and a packet of soup base with black pepper, garlic, black sesame seeds, and chili.
- Heat: None
Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, add the noodle puck and soup packets, and cook for ~4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for ~2 minutes.
The packaging show adding sliced meat, sliced bell pepper, greens, and something reddish. What I added was just some sliced scallion. This is a healthy a great broth, just not my meeting my taste buds today.
√ Koyo Tofu Miso Ramen Soup
The Koyo Tofu Miso ramen soup has nice, chewy noodles and slurp up well. The broth feels rich and has a light miso flavor. I ate all the veggie and noodles first, leaving a nice yellowish broth. I drank this broth from the bowl and it tasted good enough that if I wanted to have a cup of broth I would choose this packet alone. Very nice, smallish serving of soup that would be great for breakfast or lunch.
- The whole package serves 1.
- Per serving: 210c, 43k, 7p, 7f and 460mg sodium.
- Total time was ~5 minutes.
- Contains a package of wheat noodle pucks and packets of broth and dehydrated tofu.
- Heat: None
Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, add the noodle puck and soup packets, and cook for ~4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for ~2 minutes.
The packages picture shows sliced tofu, bok choy, red chili, sliced scallions, and something that was red and sliced.
√ Koyo Buckwheat Shoyu Ramen Soup
The Buckwheat Shoyu Ramen soup was like the others, a nice bowl of soup with a light, simple yet tasty broth. These noodles were made with wheat and buckwheat, and as a result felt as if they were more substantial in the mouth, and a bit more chewy. The broth had some veggies (onion, garlic, red chili, and what looked like a few flecks of carrot?) and mushroom + Kombu broth.
- The whole package serves 1.
- Per serving: 210c, 42k, 7p, 2f and 740mg sodium.
- Total time was ~5 minutes.
- Contains a puck of wheat + buckwheat noodle and a packet of broth and veggies.
- Heat: None
Cooking: Boil 1.33C water, add the noodle puck and soup packets, and cook for ~4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand for ~2 minutes.
The package is like the others from this company, showing something like meat slices (but could be tofu), scallions, onions, a chili and some greens (looks like lettuce to me).
These soups are not gluten free, despite the name, as the noodles contain wheat flour + buckwheat. I did not add any veggies to the broth and the little flecks of dried veggies that came with the broth helped colorize the bowl.
—Patty
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PattyCooks series on instant noodles + soups from a global perspective.
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
