Thai Kitchen Instant Rice Noodle Soup

Thai Kitchen Instant Rice Noodle Soup, available in two vegetarian and two vegan flavors (the Lemongrass and Chili flavor contains shrimp), is a delicious, flavorful ramen-like noodle soup. The rice noodles, if you haven't had them before, are softer and more absorbent than ramen noodles. Because these soups cook in only 1 cup of liquid instead of 2 like most ramen, the noodles will absorb most of the liquid in the bowl within minutes after you cook it. I actually really like that about this soup. And the little bit of liquid that is usually left in the bowl is really yummy for dipping a toasted sandwich into. :)

The packages contain a block of rice noodles, a packet of powdered seasoning and a packet of flavor oil. It cooks up really fast -- sometimes too fast. The packets can be tricky to open unless you have scissors handy (especially the oil packet, which can get messy if you don't tear it open just right), which means the noodles might be cooked before you can get the seasoning and oil in -- which means the noodles absorb less flavor.

I have tried three of the vegetarian flavors -- Spring Onion, Garlic and Vegetable, and Bangkok Curry -- and all of them are great. Thai Ginger is also vegetarian. The price is higher than some other instant noodle soups (especially since the portion size is smaller), but I think it's worth it. You'll find it in the ethnic/Asian foods section of the grocery store, probably between $.80 to $1.20 per package.

Thai Kitchen offers lots of other food products, many of them vegetarian or vegan. This page is a good reference for figuring out what contains what.

Allergens: See package or website
Veg*n: See package or website

Koyo Ramen, Mushroom Flavor

It looks a lot like the ramen you're used to: plastic packet, block of curly noodles, foil packet of flavoring. It cooks a lot like the ramen you're used to. However, it has some major differences:

*It is made of natural ingredients
*It contains no MSG
*It is vegan
*IT HAS NO FLAVOR

I was in the grocery store yesterday looking for a cheap, convenient, vegetarian, Asian noodle soup. I looked at a powder mix for miso soup, but it was about $3 and I wasn't entirely sure it was vegetarian. I looked at some tasty looking noodle soups from Thai Kitchen and Annie Chun's which come in their own disposable bowl, but they all cost >$3 each. Then I happened upon the Koyo Ramen. They had three flavors: Mushroom, Soba, and Miso/Tofu, all $1.29 each ($1+ more than the popular ramen brands). I decided to get all three.

Maybe I was wrong to expect that it would have as much flavor as the cheapo brands. They, after all, contain MSG, artificial flavors, and meat. However, I don't think that a health- and environmentally-conscious person should have to sacrifice flavor to eat organic and vegetarian -- but it's starting to seem like this may all too often be the case.

Anyway, my search for tasty, vegetarian noodle soup continues.

Protein source:
Allergens:
Vegan