Nissin Top Ramen HotPot Fusions Mega-Review | Noodle Journey Episode 217

Today’s mega review is one that you viewers voted for and I’m excited to try out. This is a somewhat recent product line from Nissin: Top Ramen HotPot Fusions. These three products are made by Nissin for sale in the US, and they came out sometime last year, maybe around autumn. This is the entirety of the product line as it currently stands. We’ve got Korean Spicy Beef flavor, Japanese Garlic Tonkotsu Pork flavor, and Thai Coconut Curry Chicken flavor.

Nissin is calling these a twist on classic hot pot flavors with the inclusion of ramen noodles, although I can’t say I’ve ever seen these types of broth at any actual hot pot restaurant near me. The couple spots around where I live offer stuff like mala Sichuan broth, tom yum, mushroom miso, but not stuff like chili beef, pork tonkotsu, or Thai coconut curry. So, I don’t know exactly what they’re going for here from a flavor perspective, but from a size perspective, these things are huge. You could actually share these with people as if you were in a hot pot restaurant if you wanted to.

These are widely available in American grocery stores and Walmart and online at Amazon and they seem to be going for about $2 or so. And like I said, these are really huge bowls, so I think that’s a good bargain from a quantity perspective. These all contain what Nissin is calling 2.5 to 3 servings each. And while normally I would joke that no one’s sharing an instant ramen bowl with someone else, in the case of these, I might actually recommend it. Not only are they large, they’re almost 5 oz. each. Normal Nissin bowl products are 3 to 3 1/2 oz., but these all also have a crazy high amount of sodium in each one. I really recommend that you do not drink all of the broth in these yourself if you can help it, unless you’re absolutely certain you have no issues with sodium whatsoever. So, with all that info out of the way, let’s get this mega review started.

Korean Spicy Beef Flavor

The Verdict:

I’m going to start with the Korean Spicy Beef flavor because I’m coming off of yet another fun virus that my kids brought home from school. So, anything spicy to clear my sinuses right now sounds great. Now this Korean Spicy Beef flavor, if it wasn’t obvious, is a clear take on something like Shin Ramyun or Jin Ramen or one of the many other beefy umami chili broths that are made by the major Korean manufacturers. And I don’t know that I’ve ever had a version of this recipe from a Japanese company, but here we are.

Inside, we’ve got a big block of Top Ramen noodles in here, plus a powdered seasoning blend, a savory sauce packet, and a vegetable medley flake packet. Now, the label doesn’t specify what’s in which, but all told, we’ve got such ingredients as beef fat, chili pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, egg white, soy, and various spices. Assuming I read the back correctly, the flakes are green onion, roasted chili, shiitake mushroom, sliced garlic, and textured soy protein, which is artificial beef flakes. And the sodium, like I said before, is no joke. It is 2,860mg for this entire bowl. Do with that information what you will, but I recommend at least having a big glass of water handy if you eat this. There are both microwave and steeping instructions on this bowl. I am going to choose to microwave because it’s a little bit easier. And honestly, microwave noodles, believe it or not, sometimes come out better than the steep versions. Maybe for the next one, I will go with the steeping version if I don’t like the way the noodles come out in this one. But first, the powder and the veggies have to go in.

Once assembled, it smells remarkably close to Shin, Jin, all those other Korean spicy beef soups I’ve had over the years. Maybe with a touch more garlic. I also got a good whiff of that chili pepper. Even dried, that’s pretty potent. There’s also a really good amount of flakes in here.

I want to taste this before the sauce goes in because it really smells good already. It’s already a very thick consistency. The raw powder smelled really good on its own. So, I’m just going to give the broth a quick taste here and see what we’ve got. I figure in a worst case scenario, if this tastes really good and you want to try it but you don’t want all the sodium, I mean I can’t say for sure how much sodium is in the sauce, but you could omit it and save yourself a little bit of that sodium headache.

Prior to adding the sauce, it’s already pretty good, but missing a little salt. That extra saltiness is more likely hiding in the sauce packet, which has a strong aroma of what is almost certainly soy sauce or miso. There’s some congealed fat, so that’s where the beef fat is too. I’m going to assume that the sauce is really not that optional for the full flavor experience. Once stirred in, it’s a pretty rich looking bowl of noodles.

Noodles:

This noodle score will apply to the other two bowls unless something strange happens where they’re not all the same noodles. I confess I’ve never actually bought a Top Ramen bowl in my life. And I really didn’t expect much, but these noodles are surprisingly pretty good. Much better quality than I was expecting. I don’t believe these are the same noodles that come in the regular Top Ramen chicken and beef bowls because those take 3 minutes to cook. These take 5. I thought maybe going into this that they would be the same ones used in the Fire Wok bowls, but they’re actually a little bit firmer, rounder, honestly just a really solid al dente chew. I’m pretty impressed that Nissin America came out with these. They’re not quite up to the same standard that you would get from a pack made by Ottogi or Nongshim. So, they don’t really have that super chewy Korean noodle quality, but they’re definitely not bad quality. Not super far off from that. And there’s a ton of them – this is just a huge quantity of decent noodles.

• 7.5/10

Spiciness:

Now, as far as spiciness, Nissin has given this its own spiciness score of 2 out of 6 chili peppers on the lid. I go on a 10 scale as you might know. But I do agree that this is just south of a medium heat. It’s a little more comparable to something like Jin Mild than it is to something like Jin Spicy. Which is to say if you’ve had Shin Ramyun or Jin Spicy before, I graded those at a 6 out of 10. I think this one is closer to a 4 out of 10. It is still spicy. If you don’t like spicy food, this is going to hurt you. But if you do like spicy food, I think this is a nice comfortable heat level. It doesn’t overpower the flavors.

• 4/10

Overall:

Now, before I put the sauce packet in, it was kind of a standard Korean chili soup flavor: onion, garlic, beef, chili pepper, a nice savory blend of flavors. Adding in the sauce kind of rounds it out a little bit more. It definitely adds more salt, although it doesn’t come off as overly salty because there’s just so much broth here. That high sodium level is not apparent when you taste this. It also adds an extra umami element. I’m pretty certain the liquid packet is soy sauce with some extra beef fat in it. The thing I wasn’t expecting is it adds a little bit of smokiness to it, but there’s also just a very slight kind of bitter aftertaste going on. And it’s slight. I don’t think it’s enough to really bother me, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t warn you about it. There’s also something sour in there that I’m really not able to put my finger on what it could be. But either way, this all turns into like a really good attempt at a Korean chili broth. It’s pretty neat to see Nissin kind of stepping out of its usual repertoire of recipes and attempting something like this. The flakes are really good too – lots of green onion, chili pepper, and garlic slices. The textured soy protein is actually really spot-on, like very, very close to a nice fibrous beef texture. Everything rehydrated really well. It’s really tasty. Is this going to replace Shin Ramyun for me in my rotation of noodles? Probably not. There’s that slight bitter edge, there’s the massive amount of sodium, so it’s not going to be kind of a daily driver like Shin Ramyun can be, but I think it is really tasty on its own merits. It’s comparable to Shin – it’s a little bit different because of the sourness and smokiness and bitterness that I got at the end there, but really good quality to the noodles, broth, and the flakes. Way to go, Nissin.

• 7/10

Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Flavor

This Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Flavor does appear to be, based on the packaging image, a soupy version of a Thai yellow curry, which is one of my favorite varieties of curry from any country. Yellow curry is typically on the milder side with a good amount of savory ingredients balanced with a touch of sweetness from coconut milk. And thinking back, I’m pretty sure it is the first Thai curry that I ever tried from a Thai takeout place. So, I’m probably a little biased. So, let’s hope that all the stuff I like about yellow curry is reflected here in this bowl.

Inside, of course, we’ve got more of the same noodles. And just like the last one, there’s also a powder packet, a liquid sauce, and a veggie packet. In the seasoning, we’ve got ingredients like coconut milk, powdered chicken, palm sugar, anchovy, garlic, lime, lemongrass, carrot juice, soy sauce, and various spices. The liquid is just listed as a chili sauce that you add after microwaving, to your taste I assume. And in the vegetable flakes, we’ve got bok choy, onion, red bell pepper, and textured soy protein. Once again, this contains multiple servings in a single bowl with a sodium count of 2,670mg if you eat the whole thing. So, watch out.

The bell pepper in the veggie pack smells really nice. In the soup powder, there are almost unmistakably yellow curry vibes out of that – cumin, cinnamon, powdered coconut. The chili sauce being optional, I will taste this first and then add all of the chili sauce after I get a good feel for the flavor.

After cooking, the aroma is very nice and chickeny with that curry spice blend that I really liked when I smelled. As promised, before I add the chili sauce, I tasted this on its own to see what we’ve got because my suspicion was this is one of those cases where I don’t need to make this violently hot in order for it to taste good. And indeed, it is perfectly mild without the chili sauce. Not even the slightest bit of heat that I can detect.

Opening the sauce packet, I’m not sure exactly what’s in there. It’s got a little bit of something salty and umami in it besides just chili pepper. It’s definitely garlic and chili, but there’s something else on top of it, almost reminding me of miso, but miso would be a little out of place in this and I also don’t see it in the ingredients. So, I’m not quite sure. But as far as chili sauces go, it was actually pretty good.

Noodles:

Same noodles as before.

• 7.5/10

Spiciness:

Like I said earlier, without that chili sauce, it’s a 0 out of 10. With the chili sauce added, it’s still not crazy spicy. Whatever peppers they used for this, they’re not enough to overpower the flavor of the curry. Just kind of a gentle tingle on my lips and on my tongue, which is actually very similar to the yellow curry that I’ve had from my local takeout places. So really, even if you’re wimpy about spice, I don’t think this is too bad. And you can also control the amount of the chili sauce that you add in here. So that’s a big plus. Don’t let the oily red tinge in the broth fool you: this isn’t that spicy at all.

• 2.5/10

Overall:

There’s a lot of things I like about this. The chicken flavor in the broth itself is very strong and very authentic. And you’ve got the curry spices that I really like kind of amplifying that great chicken flavor. I taste what I think is cumin, cinnamon, probably fenugreek, something a little on the sweeter side, and coconut milk, of course. There’s a little bit of zing that I’m assuming is lemongrass or lime, but it’s not very citrusy or very pronounced. And if you’re worried about the anchovies in this, I don’t think this is fishy at all. Usually when anchovies go in something like this, it’s just for a little extra umami – you don’t really taste fish. And that was before I added the chili sauce, which I already thought was a great flavor. Without the chili sauce, I think this warrants an 8/10 as an overall score. Very savory, very tasty, nice blend of spices.

Adding the chili sauce, I wasn’t convinced that it really was going to do anything special, but it has. The extra spice is not overpowering, so that’s great, and I’m never going to complain about the extra garlic flavor the sauce brought. And then whatever that extra little bit of umami I was detecting, that may or may not be miso, really just it all blends very well together. This is not quite the same as the Thai yellow curry that you may find at your local Thai restaurant. It is a soup version. There’s a lot of extra chicken flavor in the broth. But it is a really nice hybrid of chicken soup and yellow coconut curry with that little bit of punch from the spice. The flakes are nice, the bell peppers are sweet, the bok choy and the onions came back a little bit crunchy. The imitation chicken soy protein flakes are pretty spot-on. As far as soy protein goes, it’s not too spongy. It’s got kind of a fibrous chicken meat texture to it. Very nicely done there. I really like it. It kind of walks the line as more of a fusion product. It is made by a Japanese company after all at their American manufacturing facility. So, a little bit of a melting pot of flavors here, but I think everything comes together incredibly nicely. If you’re a curry fan, you’re going to want to check this out.

• 9/10

Japanese Garlic Tonkotsu Pork Flavor

And now for the last one, we’ve got the Japanese Garlic Tonkotsu Pork flavor. And I’m pretty excited about this one because there aren’t very many tonkotsu options manufactured in the USA. A lot of the tonkotsu flavors that you see in the US are manufactured overseas. That means they don’t have real pork in them, and so sometimes they don’t exactly taste right. I think the product that this flavor is most in direct competition with is probably Nongshim’s tonkotsu bowls that come with black garlic oil. I really enjoyed that one quite a while back, so I’m really eager to see how this one compares.

Inside the bowl: more noodles, powdered broth, liquid packet, and vegetables. In the broth powder, we’ve got pork stock, soy sauce, egg, garlic powder, various spices, and lots of what look to be thickening agents. The liquid packet that says savory sauce is a black garlic oil, and that means scorched garlic oil which is called mayu. Sometimes people confuse that with fermented black garlic, but that’s a different thing. Mayu is usually made from a combination of minced garlic with a sesame oil that is cooked until it gets kind of a nutty, almost burnt flavor to it. And finally, the veggies in this bowl are green onion, cabbage, minced garlic, and textured soy protein to imitate chunks of pork. The sodium for all of this is (are you ready for this one?) 2,970mg for one bowl. That’s an insane amount of sodium for a single person to take in in one meal, unless you have a salt deficiency. So, just be warned.

The veggies and the soup powder go in first. And you save the garlic oil for after everything is cooked. As I was assembling, I noticed a strong whiff of garlic and I’m guessing pork and other flavor enhancers in the powder.

After cooking, it smells really nice, and the consistency is great – nice and milky. Lots of dried toppings floating around. Prior to adding the black garlic oil, it is really good on its own and already a little garlicky and very pork forward. Lots of umami, sesame, great flavor.

Adding the garlic oil, it has a really good garlic aroma without smelling overly scorched, which I think might make a lot of people happy. I had a little taste on its own, and it has lots of garlic flavor in kind of a neutral oil. It doesn’t lean too far into the burnt nutty flavor.

Noodles:

Noodles are the same as the other two bowls. No surprises there.

• 7.5/10

Spiciness:

For the spiciness score, there’s no chili pepper or heat in this unless you find the flavor of garlic to tickle your taste buds in a spicy way. I know there are those of you out there that exist, but I’m not really giving out nonzero spiciness scores for garlic like I did way back when the channel started. So, this is just a caveat that it is very garlicky and that might rub some people’s palates the wrong way, but otherwise this is not what I would consider spicy.

• 0/10

Overall:

This is terrific. I’m a bit biased because I love tonkotsu and I love garlic, but I think this is one of the best things that Nissin has manufactured in the US, tonkotsu or otherwise. The use of real pork in this broth is notable because it doesn’t have to rely on artificial flavoring to achieve what I think is a pretty reasonably authentic tonkotsu flavor and consistency. I mean, you can look at this broth and see how milky and rich it is – that’s the way tonkotsu is supposed to be. Since there’s quite a bit of broth in here, the massive hit of sodium that is in this bowl does get spread around. I don’t feel like the salt is very concentrated, so it’s enhancing all the ingredients rather than overpowering. Just make sure you stir it really well if you buy this. And between the minced garlic pieces and the garlic powder and then the black garlic oil, this is a garlic lover’s dream, and I’m really happy about how punchy it is. If you prefer your tonkotsu to have a lighter kiss of garlic, you might find this a bit too much. I would probably recommend just omitting the sauce packet entirely or just adding a little bit of it if that’s what you’re after, but I’m a fan of this as is. The cabbage and onions have a nice little crunch. The soy pork pieces are tender and well seasoned and really good. I wouldn’t mistake them for real pork, but they’re solid. They do have kind of a nice soft, almost pork tenderloin texture and flavor. I think they’re the same ones that Nissin uses in the Fire Wok rich pork bowls. But in comparing this to Nongshim’s tonkotsu bowls, which I brought up earlier, I find the broth to be mostly similar, but the scorched sesame aspect of the black garlic oil is much more mellow in this product, and I think the consistency is a little better. If it wasn’t for the sodium, I would be happy taking down one of these bowls once a week for my lunch. This is probably the best shelf-stable instant tonkotsu that you are currently going to find from an American factory on an American store shelf. I’m honestly struggling to find a reason not to give this a perfect score. I can’t find any.

• 10/10

Final Thoughts

This is a really great product line from Nissin. The one caveat is the sodium level, but putting that aside, these are a great value for a large amount of noodles, and the quality and flavor of the broths and toppings is top-notch. I really had very few expectations going into this review, especially because I think the Top Ramen branding is usually associated with cheap mediocrity if I’m being honest, but all three of these are a pleasant surprise. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy any of these again, but the Garlic Tonkotsu flavor is the standout for me personally, no surprise there. I think if you’re okay with the sodium in these or if you are actually planning on splitting the bowls into multiple meals or sharing them with someone else, you should buy whichever one of these appeals to you. They will all take very well to fresh veggies and proteins if you want to make them into a more complete meal, but they are also substantial enough to stand on their own due to the volume of noodles and toppings that are in them. So, really solid offering from Nissin. I’m impressed.

Continuing the Journey

• For more great curry soup and garlicky noodles, check out the products in the Nongshim Ramyun Chef line!
• Want another spicy Korean chili broth alternative with tons of garlic flavor? Paldo Namja Ramyun is one of my favorites.
• If you’re after a spicier product from Nissin, Nissin Cup Noodle Spicy is quite good.