World’s Worst Ramen are Chinese
Tuesday, July 23, 2013 | By: Weijing Zhu
In a recent ranking of the world’s best and worst instant noodles, brands from China got several honorable mentions in the bottom 10, and absolutely none in the top 10. The reviews were published by Hans Lienesch “The Ramen Rater”, and as Chinese cuisine prides itself on the variety and flavors of its regional noodles, even the state-run media China News was taken by surprise that half of the worsts are from China.
Both No. 1 and No. 2 on the ‘best of the worst’ list are sweet potato noodles from Mainland China, whose “slimy” and greasy texture Hans disliked. Aside from his aversion towards sweet potato noodles themselves, his criticism of the Single Noble noodles was that the broth and “horrid veggies that didn’t hydrate well”, and as for the Fei-Chang flavored No.2, he thought that it smelled of “dirt and urine”, which probably does come from the fact that it is spicy pork intestines flavored (pork intestine dishes are enjoyed by many Chinese in different parts of China).
Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese products take up over half of the worsts on the list, which China News attributes to Lienesch’s non-Asian taste buds. Taiwanese company Nan Hsing waved off the news, saying that customers sometimes buy their products 5 to 10 boxes at a time, so it doesn’t really matter that Lienesch has different preferences.
The 10 Worst Instant Noodles, according to “The Ramen Rater”, are as below:
10. Wei Lih Instant Noodles With Artificial Beef Flavored Soup Stock — Taiwan
9. GreeNoodle Miso Made with Moroheiya — Thailand
8. Fashion Food Oriental Flavor Instant Noodles — Thailand
7. Baijia Hot & Sour Flavor Instant Rice Noodle — China
6. Noodle Time Spicy Thai Instant Ramen Noodles With Real Vegetables
5. Nan Hsing Vegetarian Rice Noodles — Taiwan
4. Paldo Green Tea Chlorella Noodles — South Korea
3. Fu Chang Chinese Noodle Company Pork, Seafood & Noodles Combo — United States
2. Baijia Instant Sweet Potato Noodle Spicy Fei-Chang Flavor — China
1. Baijia Single Noble Black Bone Chicken Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Noodles — China
Image courtesy of The Ramen Rater. Master image courtesy of Xinhua.
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6 Responses to World’s Worst Ramen are Chinese
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Let’s get honest for a moment. You aren’t comparing varieties of ‘ramen’. You are just giving examples of poor ‘instant noodles’. Not the same thing.
And anyway, only half these ‘bottom ten’ are Chinese (and I am including Taiwan.)
No one in China expects instant noodles to be gourmet eating. It’s crap fast food which is often the only thing available on long journeys.
Publishing the top ten ‘instant noodles’ might have been interesting. Instead you link to fresh noodles – something totally different.
Seriously defective article.
Ramen simply means noodle. Ramen as a dish is a Japanese standard while la mien, la mian, mi goreng, bihun etc are regional varieties of noodles, often represented in instant versions. If you are interested in the top ten list, check out my website.
The bottom two are both from China. And I think many would disagree with instant noodles being “crap fast food” only consumed because they are available on long journeys (although they are passengers’ favorite food on trains). Ramen noodles, when done well, can be very tasty. Not gourmet per se, but a ramen (instant noodles) lover would argue that there’s more to it than you think.
The top 10 instant noodles by Lienesch is linked in the article btw.
There are some out there that really border on the gourmet. The top two on my top ten list for example: the pastes they use are extraordinary for a packet of noodles. Not only that, the la mian noodle is of a very high quality. Since I eat instant noodles daily, I try to ‘gourmet them up’ by adding lots of things. My bottom ten sure created quite a buzz – got a comment earlier today from someone saying I wasn’t fond of other cultures and flavors. I like it when people infer such things, especially when I generally have a variety from a different country every day. Taiwan got mad that they weren’t on the top ten and mad because they were on the bottom ten. Didn’t hear a peep though when I recently did my top ten bowls and top ten cups lists…
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The nature of taste is subjective. The most accurate possible assessment of instant ramen quality could only be attained through a large study where participants tried every ramen brand and flavor before coming to a decision. It is a reflection of arrogance that whomever ranked these noodles claimed objectivity in (or at least did not deny the subjectivity of) their rankings.