Ramen Review #1 - Nissin Demae Ramen; Seafood Flavour

Because I love noodles and noodles related food and I refuse to do my homework today *sigh*. I'm gonna review the ramen I just ate :P

I think most people will know this brand of instant ramen. It is a Japanese brand that was founded in 1958. They make a lot of different flavours and types of ramen nowadays, but it started with the simple chicken flavoured ramen. I grew up with that one :) Fond memories of the green packaging. Sometimes my parents would get the seafood flavour, but most of the time it was chicken.

Inside the package you will find one portion of dry instant noodles and a flavour packet. The flavour packet used to be silver with blue letters, but they switched it to blue with silver letters somewhere down the timeline.

Its funny how the package still looks the same as I remembered from when I was a child. They still use the same colour code for the flavours and the same pictures too! But last time I went to the Asian supermarket the chicken flavour had a different look and I was so upset... Ah well, change is not always a bad thing :)

The way this ramen is cooked is very basic: you boil some water, add the flavour packet, add the ramen and boil till it reaches the softness you like. And not boil the ramen and stir the flavour packet in dry! This is noodle SOUP! Strangely in the Netherlands the western noodles (brands like Unox) tell you to first boil the noodles, then throw the water away and mix in the flavour package. Strange humans. I prefer my noodles soft, with just a little bite left. All the Demae ramen flavours use the same basic noodles. It is only the soup packet that is different. The seafood flavour is one of my favourites. Its savory, but has a slight sweetness to it. There are small flakes of green onion and crushed sesame seeds in the soup. Also there is a hint of ginger in there. Asians love ginger with seafood, cause it helps with blocking the stronger seafood flavours (the ones you probably wouldn't like to taste) and it also helps digestion as some seafood tends to be hard to digest (think octopus, octopus is hell on a bad stomach). I also like how the soup isn't that strongly seafoody that it won't go with toppings that do not hail from the sea. 

Overal this is a good household staple ramen. Having a box of these on hand can make for some easy quick meals. Combined with some vegetables and meat or fishballs, it makes for a hearty balanced meal.