Here’s all the noteworthy noodle news you may have missed in September 2026. There are a ton of new products that were announced and/or released this month, one bummer of a discontinuation, and one major shift in the US instant noodle market. Read on for all the details!
Korean Ramyun Is Closing the Gap in the USA
Here’s a pretty impressive bit of market-share news that demonstrates just how much Korean ramyun has grown in the USA. According to The Asia Business Daily, Maruchan remained the top instant noodle brand in the country last year with a 26.8% market share, but Nongshim was right behind it at 24.9%. That gap shrank from 9.2 percentage points to only 1.9 in a single year. Samyang also reached third place at 9.5%, ahead of not only the Top Ramen product line but Nissin itself. Considering that the noodle aisle at Walmart and other normal grocery stores is looking more and more like an Asian market these days, I can’t say I’m surprised, but that’s still an incredible amount of growth for Korean noodles after decades of Japanese noodle dominance.
Cup Noodles Vampire Noodles Are a Thing
It’s only been a couple months since the last round of gimmick Cup Noodles from Nissin in the USA, and just in time for the Halloween season they’ve unveiled Vampire Noodles. These are a hot garlic chicken flavor with the added gimmick of noodles that are blood-red in color. Nissin claims that the red color is derived from vegetables (beets would be my guess) and has no artificial colors in it. As with almost all of their limited-time flavors in the US, these are exclusive to Walmart stores. They were supposed to have arrived in all stores nationwide on September 24th, but as of the time I’m writing this (September 30th), they haven’t shown up in my area. I haven’t missed a gimmick cup yet, so be on the lookout for a review of these as soon as I get my hands on them.
Shin Rosé Finally Shows Up in the USA
I reported on Nongshim’s new Shin Rosé flavor back in the May 2026 news post, where I mentioned the original press release from Nongshim promised a June rollout to the US and other global markets. Well, June came and went, along with July and August – and finally in September it actually started showing up for sale online, in Walmart stores, and in Asian markets. Why the delay? Who knows, but it’s finally here. I do actually have a review for this new flavor filmed and will release it in an episode or two.
Nongshim Releases New Bowl Flavors
More new products from Nongshim! Their long-standing Bowl Noodles product line has undergone a slight packaging update across all varieties (the second such package redesign in the last two years if memory serves me correctly), and they’ve quietly released two new flavors to go with it: Chipotle Shrimp and Spicy Cheese. As of right now, I can only find these for sale in 12-packs on Amazon and haven’t spotted them in stores yet. I’ve actually never reviewed anything from the Bowl Noodles product line, so I guess if I see them in person, I’ll start there and post them here on the site.
Nongshim Also Releases Gluten-Free Fiber Noodles
Yes, one more product announcement from Nongshim USA. I noticed my local Walmart started selling a pair of new bowls from Nongshim under the product line “Noodle Fit.” Some research shows me that this is a product line that already exists in South Korea that Nongshim appears to be manufacturing in America for domestic distribution (I’ll know for sure the origin once I get them in-hand). The conceit with these bowls is that the noodles are gluten-free rice noodles with 5g of added fiber and low fat content. They are currently available in a Mild Gomtang flavor and a Spicy Beef flavor – and there may even be more, but since I can’t find a press release or even a product page for these over on Nongshim’s site yet, I can’t be certain if there are any other varieties. One or both of these will likely get a video review once I find them.
Momofuku Announces Overpriced Sauces
My interest in Momofuku has dwindled in light of the multiple controversies surrounding its founder, but it would still be remiss of me not to mention recent developments with their products. Just this month, they unveiled five new sauces that you can use for your noodles or other home cooking applications: Chili Crunch Sauce, Momoyaki Sauce (their ridiculously-named version of teriyaki), Sweet & Spicy, Sweet & Sour, and Miso Ginger. I’m not opposed to reviewing one of these in the future, but they are currently selling for $10 per bottle, which is outrageous for a bottled sauce. Maybe if there’s a sale down the line. Drop me an email or comment on social media if any of these interest you.
Samyang Releases Beef Tallow Ramyeon in the USA
This one’s not something I expected to see here. Earlier this year, Samyang released a noodle pack called “Samyang 1963,” which is a throwback product simultaneously recreating and modernizing their original spicy beef broth recipe from 1963 in which the noodles are fried in beef tallow and the broth is finished with Cheongyang chili peppers. Due to export restrictions in the US regarding beef, I never expected to see this product on American shelves (and consequently I ordered a pack of Samyang 1963 off of eBay that I haven’t reviewed yet). But lo and behold, Samyang 1963 has started popping up in Asian markets under the name “Samyang Beef Tallow Ramyeon.” Samyang does not have a manufacturing facility in the USA, which means (I’m speculating here) they must be importing American beef (or another legally exportable beef) for this product, manufacturing it in South Korea, and exporting it back here. That is quite interesting and nothing I’ve ever seen before except for maybe the occasional beef-based product from Otoki. Does the beef tallow make a difference? Hopefully I can find out soon enough!
Samyang Silently Discontinues a Buldak Favorite
I didn’t notice this one until a Redditor happened to bring it up. Apparently with the release of the wildly underwhelming Buldak Truffle flavor last month, Samyang took the opportunity to discontinue the Buldak Tom Yum flavor, which was pretty polarizing amongst tom yum aficionados but that I found to be pretty damn delicious on its own merits. The evidence, besides its sudden scarcity, is that it has entirely disappeared from Samyang America’s website. I don’t want to say that Truffle made Tom Yum disappear, but it sure does seem like every new Buldak flavor knocks an old one out – similar to how we’ve lost Curry, Jjajang, Tomato Pasta, Stew, and Kimchi flavors seemingly alongside the releases of Yakisoba, Rosé, Swicy, Taco, and Birria. Or maybe the timing just happens to be coincidental with when Samyang re-evaluates their SKUs for sales and ingredient sourcing. Whatever the case, I’m going to truly miss Buldak Tom Yum and hope that maybe it comes back in another form someday.
