ICHIRAN vs. IPPUDO Instant Noodles! JAPANESE SUPERMARKET Instant Noodle Taste Test

Hey guys, welcome to Strictly Dumpling where today it's gonna be strictly instant noodles and we're heading to a grocery store that I just discovered like a couple weeks ago and it is magnificent. But this time we're going there just for some instant noodle roleplayers and I'll explain what I mean later. Oh, by the way, it's raining perfect noodle weather. It's like the noodle gods are looking down at us and basking us in holy broth. Yeah, this place, Uwajimaya. Oh my god, I love this place. I could spend a whole day here. I wasn't planning on it, but once you see it, you have to get it. Oh my god, lychee beer. I don't even drink beer and I kind of want that. Spam, musubi, poke. Oh, look at all the sushi, sashimi. We will be back for some of this stuff. Beef curry, barbecue pork. Oh, I love this place so much. Oh, their hot food is open. Oh man, look at this. Freshly made noodles. Barbecue. They got some katsu. Croquette. Jesus. Barbecue by the pound. I got to be strong. I'm here for a purpose and I need to stay on track and get too distracted. So this is more like a fusion Asian grocery store. So you're going to have your Korean ramen, your Chinese ramen, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian, Vietnamese instant noodles. But we are here for the Japanese instant noodles. There we go. This one looks good. Spicy tantanmen. Sapporo Ichiban. These look like cup noodles. I see the classic neon looking peas and carrots here. I'll get one to try. Super big. Soy sauce ramen. Japanese style fresh noodles. I think the style is mainly Korean. Oh my gosh, miso ramen bowl. It's like a fancy ramen kit. Miso ramen bowl, pho ramen bowl. Let's get a tonkatsu style and try it out. Sakura cola. Japanese A5 Wagyu. $40 for a third of a pound. Yeah, sounds about right. What is a ninja burger? It's a Wagyu ground beef burger. What the heck? Alright, we're trying this next time. Kobe beef burger. This is American Kobe. Yeah, this is definitely Wagyu. Look at the marbling on this one burger. But this is definitely not A5 for sure. $2.72 will not get you a third of a pound of A5 Wagyu meat. Next time, we're going to do like a eat the supermarket thing. But today, like I said, really, really, really trying to stay on track. Whoa, look at all the noodles they have here in the frozen aisle. Oh, that ramen looks good. Vegetarian shoyu garlic miso. Alright, let's do garlic miso. Wow, this looks good. Tip on. Yeah, let's get one of these. Alright, I decided I cannot leave without getting some of this roast meat. Oh, apparently you can only have two boxes of this. It's as valuable as hand sanitizer. Ah, it is a nice day. Got my noodles, got some meat. Looks like the rain's going to be here for a while. This might just be one of the best Saturdays ever. If I could only somehow forget every single episode of Friends and Scrubs and rewatch it all over again, brand new. That'd be the only way this day could get better. Alright, back from the grocery store. So these are the instant noodles I got. And again, I was talking about roleplayers because the star of this instant noodle taste test is Ippudo instant noodle and Ichiran instant noodle. Now, I do want to say, this is not cheap. I think the Ichiran was like $12 a pack or something. I'm sorry, the Ippudo was like $12 a pack. Obviously, much cheaper if you want to get it in Japan. The restaurants were selling these, I think for like $13, $14 for one packet. But I got this from Amazon, I think there's like 5 packs inside. Yeah, so there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 packs. Comparatively, I guess it's way less expensive. This whole thing was like $37. $7, $8 for a pack of instant noodles. Which sounds exorbitant, and it is. But again, much cheaper than what I got from the actual ramen store. But before we get to the Ichiran Ippudo, I wanted to try as many Japanese ramen as I could from the Japanese supermarket. This is of course our part 2 of trying every single instant noodle out there. And this week, it's the Japanese edition. So this is some of what I could find at the local Japanese supermarket. Of course, like I couldn't get every single one of them. There's just way too many. And that's why this series will probably go on infinitely. But, this is what I got. And before I try the best, I want to try the rest. While the water is boiling, just want to give a big shout out and thank you to Surfshark VPN for sponsoring this video and supporting this channel. And I've been talking a lot about Surfshark VPN on this channel because I feel like VPN is something that every single person really needs to get. Especially as more and more people are traveling. Some restaurants or coffee shops are opening up. And we're going to be accessing a lot of random hotspots that are just not secure. 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Also, if you're abroad and you want to have access to something like Hulu with Surfshark VPN, you can. So if you use this link down below and my promo code Mikey Chang, you'll get 85% off the normal price. And you get 3 months for free. And you get a 30-day money-back guarantee. This is why I always say, there's no reason why you shouldn't have this. It's secure, it gives you more content, and it's insanely affordable. So you can try it out for 30 days. If you don't like it, return it. And you can go buy yourself, well, not this, but this. Buy yourself a pack of ramen. All right, water's boiling, let's get to eating. Oh, I'm excited about this. Cup noodle. Now, I baned on cup noodle many times before. I don't typically like cup noodle. This is stuff that you'll find a lot of times in the U.S. for some of the cheapest noodles. And I never really liked this brand before. But if this is the Japanese version of cup noodles, I'm excited about this. Because it's actually different than the typical cup noodles that you'll find in the U.S. supermarkets. And I'm gonna cook these two together, because I feel like they're kind of comparable. These are the other, I guess, really inexpensive cup noodles. These are the Ichiban, Separado Ichiban. So these ones, it looks like the vegetables somehow fell into, like, radioactive waste. Yep, you see? On the inside, it reminds me of Las Vegas with all those neon signs and stuff. You'll be able to see these noodles from, like, a mile away. And this is the curry cup noodle. Yeah, oh, look at that. And I remember trying one of these in Japan and completely having my mind blown, because I always associated cup noodles with something really cheap and really not good. But you can see the difference between these two cup noodles. I gotta add the seasoning pack into the Ichiban noodles. God, I am off my noodle game today. Alright, so the key to these noodles, to make it sort of edible, is not to cook it that long, especially the Ichiban one. Because it's really thin, and this thing will get soggy very, very quickly. Alright, you see how thick the curry noodles are? This is what I remember when I got this in Japan. Like, this surprised me so much. The broth is thick, it smells good. Right away, I can smell the curry. Big ol' chunk of potatoes? But look at how the sauce is coating the noodles right now. Actually, it looks and smells marvelous. This thing, on the other hand, if artificial had a smell, this would be it. It just smells chemically, you know? That's pretty horrible. I mean, it's flavored, but all you're really tasting is salt. And I try to make an effort to not, like, put this in the broth too long, but it's already getting a little soggy. I mean, in a pinch, if this is all you had, alright, then go for it. But compared to what you could get, what you could have, compared to something like this, this is no-brainer. And it would be better with a little hot oil, for sure. With hot oil, it becomes much, much, much better. And also, here's what I hate about these little radioactive vegetables. When you cook the noodles in the hot water, like I told you, you don't want to cook it too long because it's gonna get soggy. But if you don't cook it too long, the vegetables don't soften up. So, these are a little hard. I almost wish the little vegetables didn't exist, so these noodles would be, like, more consistent, you know? Alright, these, I'm really, really excited. The noodles are soaking up the broth. Oh, this is so good. Ain't nothing simple about this, look at it. It almost looks like you went to a restaurant, and somebody gave you a scoop of curry with your noodles. You got the meat, you got the potatoes, and the potatoes actually taste good. Like, they actually taste like potatoes. Noodles soaked up that broth and that curry flavor beautifully. And they're a little thicker, so they don't get soggy nearly as quickly. Give that a little splash of hot oil. Marvelous. So next time you go shopping for cup noodles, go for this, not this. Maybe you should learn something from your fellow cup noodle. Here, I'm gonna, like, sit you guys together, and, uh, why don't you mentor you for a while? This looks like yakisoba. Ah, see? Perfect instructions. Pull this back to here. Remove all the packets. We have three packs. Four packs. Dried vegetable goes in. Add the water. All right. Three minutes. This is so convenient. Look at that. Oh my gosh. I always say this about Japanese products. If you're struggling with a product, like, you can't open it, that's probably your fault, because there's no way they're making anything that's difficult to operate. Dump the water out. Open this back up. Whoa, mustard mayonnaise. This is the first time I'm seeing something like this in an instant noodle pack. Seriously, mustard may- Oh, I get it. If you ever eat, uh, okonomiyaki or yakisoba, they do add the mayonnaise sometimes. I got a good feeling about this. Look at the color. Oh, it's becoming so dark and nice. It's actually starting to look like yakisoba. By the way, yakisoba, one of the greatest things in Japanese cuisine. Look at that. The sauce is covering everything perfectly. I like this a lot. A lot. Wow. I'm getting this again. There's some wasabi with the mayonnaise. Oh, that is just perfect. One of the best instant noodles out there. The cabbage, even, like, I like those neon peas and carrots. There's a purpose for this veggie being here. It provides a little crunch, and it kind of calms your taste buds down a little bit, because the noodles are so flavorful. You get the umami flavor, you definitely get that yakisoba flavor, and at the same time, you get the creaminess from the mayo, and that tiny bit of kick from the wasabi. This might be the unlikely find, the untraffed pro bowler of this instant noodle haul. Like, so good. Oh, this is so good that, remember I actually got some pork to go with the noodles? This is so good, you deserve your own piece of pork. Also, have some hot oil. I only do that for my favorite noodles. Now this day has truly begun. Perfect. Love it. Solid 9 out of 10. Solid. This is what I'm gonna do. If the instant noodle is good, I'm gonna reward it with a piece of pork. Just like my parents used to do for me as a kid. Alright, next one. Soy sauce flavor, super big ramen. Okay, this one. Two flavor packs. Oh, looks like big chunks of scallions and corn. This one, just like going to an old abandoned mental hospital. I'm not getting good advice from it. Gotta say, not bad at all. Noodles, really springy. Didn't cook it too long. Perfect texture. Very slurp-worthy. The broth is dark, it's flavorful. Definitely a good soy sauce broth. Don't love the corn, but everything else, I like this. I'll give it a 7.5 or an 8 out of 10. So this will be perfect if you're in the mood for something a little soupier, something that warms you up more. This will definitely do the job. Alright, since you're good, here's your piece of pork. Have some hot oil. Very flavorful. Very satisfying. I like this. Probably something I wouldn't stock up on, but every once in a while, it will make me happy. Alright, next one. These are really fancy. This is from the freezer. And this is yakisoba, 100% yakisoba. Japanese stir-fried noodles. I am so excited about this. So for this one, it's actually stir-fried. You can put some meat in there, so I'm gonna add some char siu into the pan. This looks and smells great. I would say good, but not great. I don't feel like it tastes as good as it smells. I mean, it's good. You can definitely taste the Worcestershire flavor of yakisoba. And the noodle texture is really chewy and good. But the flavor, it doesn't astound. Like, I'm almost kind of relying on the char siu for more depth. Just the sauce alone, it's kind of one-dimensional. Much better with hot oil. All night and day. But if it wasn't for the hot oil's help, I wouldn't really recommend this. I think pre-hot oil, I would give this like a 6 out of 10. Post-hot oil, solid 7.5 to 8 out of 10. Another frozen ramen. So this is the garlic miso. Looks good. I like everything I'm seeing here. Oh, I'm not gonna make the same mistake again. I was gonna say this smells and looks great, but still hurt by what happened last time. Yum. Wow, that broth is good. Very miso-y. This is a good one. If you like miso ramen, you'll like this. Flavor is strong, it's deep, it's rich. Noodles are springy, it's chewy. Texture is perfect. As soon as I held the noodles in my hand, I knew they were gonna turn out well. I would give high marks for this. I would give this a solid 8 to 8.5. Actually, 8.5. Like, you could literally open up a ramen place and sell this. Pay you probably 15 bucks for it and leave you a nice Yelp review. Alright, this is so interesting. I've never seen something like this before. Ramen tonkatsu style bowl. You get a little bowl and you get the broth. So this is a purely microwave meal. Such a fancy packaging, but the noodles look like they came out of a cup noodle. Oh, this is vegan. And then this is the broth. How do you make a vegan tonkatsu broth? Tonkatsu is pork bone. How would you even begin to do this? Oh, soy. Lot of soy. Microwave. Alright. It smells like nothing. Like, usually when you have a tonkatsu ramen, you can smell the bone broth. Right now, I don't really smell anything. I mean, the vegetables look fresh. Oh, this is good though. Sakura soda. Oh, that is just tremendously bad. I'm gonna try the noodles. Oh! Oh my god, is this expired? No, it's not expired. Oh, it expires the day before my birthday. I'm not trying to disrespect vegans or vegan food or anything like that, but I've had good vegan food. This is not it. This is not edible. It's so incredibly salty. And for some reason, it's sour. Tonkatsu shouldn't be sour. Or any variations of tonkatsu. I think we hit the jackpot in terms of the worst instant noodle maybe ever made. Oh, wait, wait, wait. Maybe I judged it too soon. There's a flavor pack. I didn't add yet. Maybe this is gonna change everything. Oh, it's chilies. Okay. This is on the list of not just instant noodles, like some of the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. And I've eaten soap. That's a whole other story. I thought it was a peanut. Final two instant noodles. The reason why I started this video. Ippudo versus Ichiran. Let's start with... I'm gonna start with Ippudo. With a price tag of around $12 if we're adding tax. $12 to $13. This bowl of instant noodles costs just as much as a typical bowl you'll get in a ramen shop that's not in New York. So inside... Ooh, look how many. One, two, three, four, five. And this is the pork. Look at that. This is the reason why you cannot find these in U.S. grocery stores. Because this is not allowed here. If you get caught at Customs, they will take this from you because of the pork that's inside. Oh, this is the tonkatsu broth. Wait, actually, I think this is the broth. Yep, this is the broth. I see the congealed pieces of fat. This is the veggie pack, I believe. Yep, it is the piece of pork. It's literally a pork chip. Put that in there. Oh, that's what tonkatsu broth is supposed to smell like. Rich and hearty. Oh, I think this is the black garlic sauce. The chashu has rehydrated super thin little pieces of noodles. The black garlic oil that they're known for in the broth. Ever so creamy looking. Oh, that's good. That was like drinking pure silk. I mean, I was going through a little traumatic experience with a tonkatsu ramen right before this. But this thing just, it just cured all that. Deliciously chewy thin noodles. Everything I love from Ippudo. I'll just wash it down with that velvety broth. This broth is so good. You can taste the bones. You can taste all that rich flavor. That's exactly why this thing's like 12 bucks. I mean, it's still ridiculously expensive, but it is that good. The broth actually does taste like what you will find when you walk into a Ippudo restaurant. Rehydrated meat. It's actually not too bad. Tastes like a fatty piece of chashu. Best parts of instant noodles on the bottom of the bowl where all the little pieces of chashu and the ingredients settle down. Smooth and creamy. Solid 9 to 9.5 out of 10. You just feel so good after eating that, you know? All right. Let's do this. I'm gonna use a authentic ramen bowl for my little bag of ichiran. The ichiran doesn't look as great, the packaging. It doesn't have the fancy chashu and not too many packs. We have the flavor pack. Of course, we have their house-made chili powder. This is their broth. Same as Ippudo. A tonkatsu broth from the city of Fukuoka. Fat. I think ichiran has a fancier version of their instant noodles. That's what I had last time. But the overall flavor is not gonna be different. Their signature chili. I usually get like 10 times. First of all, it doesn't look nearly as pretty as the Ippudo one. Typically, I feel like just visually, ichiran is so beautiful. But not here. Pros and cons about this. I feel like the Ippudo broth is way creamier and richer. The ichiran broth is creamy but not nearly as much. And the flavor is not as deep. But the flavor, I feel like it's better. It's a better flavored broth. But if you're just talking about broth quality. Like what you're looking for in a great tonkatsu broth. The silkiness. The substantial depth. This does not have it. So Ippudo definitely wins out in terms of that. This honestly doesn't really taste much like what you will find in an ichiran restaurant. Ippudo one, it 100% does. I remember like trying the first ones. The fancier packs. And I felt like they actually came pretty close. These really don't at all. Even the noodle quality. I feel like it's pretty subpar. But you can tell. These are not the typical ichiran noodles. The ichiran noodles are straight thin noodles. That's the characteristic. These are not. The broth, although it tastes good. It's not great. It's not silky. Again, if you're just going for like a regular bowl of instant noodle. This is pretty good. But comparing this to the actual ichiran. This is like a 4 out of 10. I mean if we're just purely doing a contest right now. Between this and the Ippudo. Ippudo wins hands down. Like it's not even a close contest. Okay, so I looked online. So there is the type that I was talking about. It comes to like $16 a pack. I remember the original one costing a lot of money. So they do sell the thin style straight noodles. And it's about $16 a pack. That was the one I had. And it tastes much much better than this. So this is ichiran noodles. But it just says ichiran ramen 5 meals with secret red pepper. And these are the fried noodles. So these are not the thin type noodles. I made another ichiran. Just the broth. Because I didn't want my dislike of the noodles having any impact on my decision. So I'm just going to try the broth on it's own. Not even close. So conclusion. Ippudo, amazing instant noodles. Ichiran, at least when you get the smaller packs. It's not good. It's not even close. So if you are going to get ichiran instant noodles. If you want it to taste like what it tastes like in a restaurant. Or at least something close to that. You will have to do the $16 per pack. The really gourmet pack of ichiran. Because these 5 in a pack. The ones that cost about $8. Which is still quite expensive. It's not worth $8 a pack. Not at all. I suggest if you are in the mood for some tonkatsu. Really good tonkatsu. Go for Ippudo. And that's hard for me to say. Because I think in general I like ichiran more than Ippudo. But when it comes to instant noodles. Go for Ippudo. Anyway guys. That's my review of the best and worst instant noodles. Japan edition. Hopefully you found it helpful. Thank you all so much for watching. Until we eat again. Later.