Noodle Journey Episode 10: Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice Ramen White Miso Soup

By viewer request, this episode dives into the gluten-free aisle with Lotus Foods’ Forbidden Rice Ramen White Miso Soup. I don’t have any gluten sensitivity myself, but I picked up one of every rice-based variety Lotus Foods makes so I can include everyone in this noodle journey, starting with this one. It was available at Wegman’s for $1.89 at the time of this review, which is fairly reasonable for a 2.8 oz. package, especially considering it’s vegan and gluten-free.

The ingredients list is pretty simple: miso powder mixed with tamari, mushrooms, onions, carrots, scallions, and a bit of parsley. Everything comes in a single soup packet with the noodles, and the sodium is surprisingly low at just 800 mg. That’s great if you’re watching your intake, but for those of us looking for bold flavor, it’s kind of a red flag. You’ll probably need to add something.

Noodles:
These actually surprised me. I was expecting an unusual soft or gummy rice noodle texture, but these forbidden rice noodles hold up really well. They’re chewy with a distinct earthy flavor that stands apart from the broth. They’re not just acceptable for gluten-free, they’re legitimately good. I could see these working great as a base for other dishes.

• 6.5/10

Spiciness:
There is zero heat in this soup. None whatsoever. You could add your favorite hot sauce to this if you like, and based on the flavor (which I get into below), you might need to if you want to salvage this.

• 0/10

Overall:
Unfortunately, the broth just drags this whole thing down substantially. It’s thin, bland, and dominated by weak dirt-flavored mushroom powder with barely any miso flavor. The little bits of vegetables don’t add anything. I genuinely appreciate what this product is trying to do, but unless you specifically need gluten-free noodles, there’s no reason to choose this over better options. Even for those who do, I’d suggest using the noodles in your own dish and ditching the seasoning packet entirely.

• 2.5/10