Tasting Paldo Namja Ramen

Today's tasting doesn't come off the Ramen Rater's lists; in fact, not really sure where I found out about this one. Decent-sized brick of noodles at 4.06 oz/115g, and comes with two packets - one of vegetables, and one of seasoning powder. The directions are to cook in 500cc of water "until tender"; I cooked them for 3 minutes and they were very good texture-wise. The directions didn't say to drain, so I didn't - I just added the packets and let them sit for a few minutes.  

The first impression of the flavor is salt, but it goes down pretty quickly to a solid if non-descript "meaty" flavor. The Ramen Rater thought they were pretty hot, but I'm not tasting any heat at all, to the point I'm thinking about adding some hot sauce to it as well as a protein add-in, this time roast turkey. 

Nutritional details: 480 calories, 14g of fat, and 10g of protein. 1,850(!) mg of sodium. 

Verdict: OK. Not amazing, not terrible, just...OK. I'll finish them but won't buy them again. 

Taste: 6/10

Heat: 3/10

Tasting Mamee Shinsegae Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Noodles

As I mentioned in my last tasting, Bulmawang The Devil of Fire Ramen claims the title of "spiciest ramen in the world". And as I noted then, I think Mamee Shinsegae Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Noodles are way hotter. But it doesn't look like I ever wrote a review, so here it is. 

These noodles come in a cup with an oily sachet. The noodles themselves are black in color...and so is the sachet, at least coming out. Once I mixed it with the noodles it was a deep orange-red. It's a fairly small portion at only 2.82oz (80g). 

I cooked them in the microwave then drained off the water and added the sachet. There was an odd smell to the noodles - not super-off-putting, but definitely somewhat chemical-y. There was nothing even vaguely chicken-like to the flavor, which matches the chemical smell. It's slightly sweet, but that's the only other note. 

Image source: Daebak Foods Facebook page

The heat is instant and lingers. It's right at the edge of my pain threshold - where heat turns to physical pain. At a couple minutes after a bite I could still feel the heat. It wasn't hot enough to make me sweat, but only just - I could feel my forehead wanting to. In fairness, the label is strewn with hints - "daring", "Flaming Spicy Madness", "WARNING: EXTREMELY SPICY". It also includes a Scoville scale - and a challenge! 

EAT IT: Empty the Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken Cup into your stomach.

SURVIVE IT: Take a video of you struggling to finish the whole cup. (Not this guy!)

ANNOUNCE IT: Post it and tag @daebaknoodles on social media and include #CanOrNotCHALLENGE to be chosen as the lucky winner. 

There's a note to check their FB account for more details but I couldn't find anything even close.  

Nutritional details: 340 calories, 12g of fat, and 7g of protein. 946mg of sodium. 

Verdict: I think this is the spiciest ramen I've had so far. I got it in a package of 6 and this is my 2nd, so I'll finish them all unless I find someone else in one of my hot sauce groups that wants them more.

Taste: 6/10

Heat: 10/10

Tasting Bulmawang The Devil of Fire Ramen

 

According to the company that makes them, Bulmawang The Devil of Fire Ramen is "The spiciest ramen in the world". The broth is made using the Carolina Reaper, which either is or was the hottest chile pepper in the world. However, acccording to the website where I first heard of them, TheRamenRater.com, they are only the 7th spiciest. Which one is closer? I'll share my thoughts shortly. 

It's a good-sized package at 4.13 oz (117g). The entire package is in Korean with the exception of the name on the package and the tagline. I'm guessing they are claiming 14,444 Scovilles on the front of the package, which would definitely put this at the top of the list. Inside the package I found your typical ramen noodles and a dry seasoning packet. 

Did I mention the entire package was in Korean? So no idea how to cook these. I checked The Ramen Rater's review and he said 2 1/2 cups of water and 4 1/2 minutes; I followed the recommendations for the amount of water and checked them starting at 3 min until they were done - around 4 minutes.  The results were soup, rather than noodles, the more to distribute the heat I suppose. 

As is the case with many of the spicy noodles, there wasn't a specific flavor to speak of - other than SALT. This ramen clocked in at a heinous 1,969mg of sodium. In terms of the heat, it hit fairly quickly but didn't really last. Because all I could taste was salt, it wasn't really that great until I added my usual enhancements, sesame oil and chopped peanuts, as well as some diced leftover turkey. 

Nutritional details: 508 calories, 18g of fat, and 7g of protein. 1,969mg(!) of sodium. 

Verdict: It is most definitely not the spiciest ramen in the world; I still have 5 cups left of Mamee Shinsegae Ghost Pepper Spicy Chicken and it was significantly hotter (And the Ramen Rater agrees, marking it at #4 on his list). Aside: I have tried that, but apparently didn't do a review so watch this space! I had high expectations for the heat level and was significantly disappointed. I still have 3 left so I'll finish the rest of the pack, but I'll definitely be dolling it up - and having a bunch of water with it, not for the heat but for the salt. 

Taste: 4/10

Heat: 8/10

Thanksgiving 2020 - COVID-19 Edition

 This year's theme is booze - because what else could it be in the Age of the Pandemic? More specifically, the theme will be bourbon. The bourbons I plan to use include: 

• Knob Creek - butter, cheesecake
• Stranahan's - stuffing, turkey
• Woodford Reserve - cran sauce, pecan pie balls
• Bulleit - sw pot, carrots

I'll note which bourbon went into which dish, though I didn't give a ton of thought to trying to match specific flavor profiles to the different dishes. Most of the dishes the alcohol cooks out, but I added an extra tablespoon back into the cranberry sauce because reasons. 

For breakfast: The very much bourbon-free Thanksgiving Morning strata. Recipe: https://fullcontactcooking.blogspot.com/2018/11/thanksgiving-morning-strata.html

Cocktails: 

Bourbon Maple Leaf Cocktail: Recipe

Bourbon Cider: Recipe

Turkey and Gravy: 

Update: Due to idiocy apparently beyond my control, my second turkey didn't thaw in time...or at all. My first turkey, which is primarily for stock and leftovers, has already been rendered into bite-sized pieces and put in the freezer. SO....this year experimenting with a bone-in breast and a boneless breast. Still doing the gravy, though. 

Bourbon-Cream Turkey Gravy: Recipe

Bourbon: Stranahan's

Cranberry sauce:

Vanilla Bourbon Cranberry Sauce: Recipe

Bourbon: Woodford Reserve

Stuffing: 

Bourbon Pecan Stuffing: Recipe

Bourbon: Stranahan's 

Potatoes: 

Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon and Maple: Recipe

Bourbon: Bulleit

Vegetable: 

Whiskey-Glazed Carrots: Recipe

Bourbon: Bulleit

Rolls and Butter:

Hawaiian sweet bread rolls from the store

Bacon-bourbon butter: Recipe

Bourbon: Knob Creek

Desserts: 

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon-Butter Sauce: Recipe

Bourbon: Knob Creek

Pecan Pie Balls: Recipe

Bourbon: Woodford Reserve

Store-bought honeycrisp apple streusel pie

Liq-Creme Bourbon 'n' Beer Ice Cream

Liq-Creme Bourbon Pecan Pie Ice Cream

Relish tray - sweet gherkins, dill gherkins, black olives

Upcoming Challenges - The Paqui One Chip Challenge and the Death Nut 2.0 Challenge

 Just a placeholder post. I have 5 of the Paqui One Chip Challenge chips, 2020 edition, and 2 of the Deathnut 2.0 Challenge sets. These will need to be done on a weekend, because while I have a pretty strong constitution, I expect that there will be...consequences. In addition, they will need to be on different weekends for the very same reason. 

Tasting Indomie Mi goreng Hot & Spicy Noodles

Another first for me today as I tried my first Indonesian noodles, Indomie Mi Goreng Hot & Spicy. This made the Top 13 spiciest ramens list per TheTakeout.com. Pretty small package at only 2.82 oz (80g) - probably why the calorie and sodium totals are so relatively low. Inside are pretty typical-looking ramen-style noodles, and no fewer than 5 different sachet ingredients: seasoning powder, seasoning oil, sweet soy sauce, chili powder, and fried onion. The seasoning oil was...interesting...in that part of it was very dark and seems to have congealed inside the sauce packet, while the rest was a radioactive orange. 

I cooked the noodles per directions - boiled for 3 min, then drained. I added the sachet ingredients to the noodles rather than the noodles to the sachet - so I guess I didn't *exactly* follow them. 

]The texture was good, and the taste was definitely more soy than anything else. Then again, it didn't say it was chicken, beef, etc. I didn't see any animal proteins listed in the ingredients. Heat-wise, there isn't an immediate hit, but it does grow slowly over maybe 30-40 seconds. To my palate it wasn't very spicy but I could see it being a bit tingly for some people. Once I hit the fried onions, they were very potent little salt-bombs. I clearly didn't distribute them evenly enough as the last coupe bites were like chewing on salt crystals. 

390 calories, 17g of fat, and 8g of protein. Definitely more typical ramen in all categories. "Only" 770 mg of sodium so better than many others. 

Verdict: It was OK, but not worth what I paid for it (maybe $1.79 or so at my local grocery store). I'd eat the rest of the pack if it only came in a multi-pack, but since I got just the one, it's probably one and done. 

Taste: 6/10

Heat: 6/10

Tasting Asha Healthy Ramen Noodles (Extra Spicy with Ghost Pepper, Medium Width Mandarin Noodle)

So today I tried my first Taiwanese ramen, A-sha Mandarin Noodle, Extra Spicy Sauce, with Ghost Pepper. They note on the package that it is non-fried. It's a smaller package than many, at 3.35 oz (95g). Inside I found the noodles, which are wider and almost linguine-like, and the sauce packet, also labeled Extra Spicy with Ghost Pepper. 

The directions were distinctly lacking in specifics, so I boiled the ramen for around 2 minutes or until they hit the right level of chew. Per the packaging I drained them and then added the sauce packet. As I opened the sauce packet there was a distinct and strong aroma of....something, midway between soy and teriyaki. My daughter remarked on the pungency as well. 

The texture was good, and the taste was definitely more soy than anything else. Then again, it didn't say it was chicken, beef, etc. As the flavor lingered it turned somewhat black pepper-y. Heat-wise, there was some spicy but not nearly what I expected of something that had ghost pepper in the name. The sauce left a bit of tingle that lingered for a few minutes after I finished the bowl. 

300 calories, only 1.5 grams of fat and 11 grams of protein, so in terms of "healthy" ramen, it'd be hard to beat this one. Lots of empty carbs of course. And a whopping 1,540 mg of sodium. 

Verdict: I bought this as a 5-pack and will definitely eat them all. 

Taste: 7/10

Heat: 7/10