1/26/10 | Nong Shim Noodle Soup
[ Currently Eating: Money ]

Spicy Bung
Ah, yes.
There are many roads I could have gone down with this review. Many, many roads. Roads not taken. Roads passed by and gone forever. Two roads diverged in a mofo woods, and I said screw it.
I said “woods”, not Tiger Woods.
Yes.
When presented with choices, I inevitably choose the most difficult route. Or at least the one that annoys the most people. Here is a Shin Bowl by Nong Shim, one of those instant noodle and soup contraptions. I planned to review it a few weeks ago. But I couldn’t really think of what to say about it.
Scorched poo hole
I could have gone down the “Shin Bowl Is Connected To The, Knee Bowl” route. Easy peasy. But I chose not to confound you with Hokey Pokey. I could have gone down the “Tastes Exactly Like Cup O Noodles If You Add Cayenne Pepper” route. Because, it does sort of taste like a cup of Cup O’ Noodles. Sorry, I mean a Cup ‘O Cup ‘O Noodles. Hell, let’s just add another “cup” to it and call it Cup ‘O Cup ‘O Cup ‘O Noodles. That’s Cup Cubed Noodles. Haha, says the math major dropout.
As usual I’ve chosen the road of grade school goofiness. Playground puerility. As is my wont.
Wont wont wont. Wont. As a side note, I sometimes imagine a parallel universe where everyone only has ONE word in their vocabulary. If that universe were ours, I would hope my word would be “wont”. It would be so entertaining to run around and just say “Wont, wont wont wont? Wont wont WONT wont.”

Anyhow, I’ve already guessed you may not like this review approach. It’s so tired and abused. Not amused.
Anal ring of fire.
In fact, I’ll lay you ten to one that right about now, you are wishing this was a Youtube video of an ambitious cat trying to climb into a box. Go ahead – change the channel. I don’t blame you.
Truth be told, I’m no longer the fake-fried-instant-noodle aficianado I was in college. Still, I regularly eat another one of Nong Shim’s products. That one is called “Neoguri” Udon Type Noodles, and I get the “Spicy Seafood” variety. Not sure if that’s the only variety they have, but it’s the one they sell in a giant bulk pack. I decided to try out this instant Shin Bowl (hmm… why isn’t it called a “Shim” Bowl) for old time’s sake.
Holy hole of burning, Batman.
One difference with the Neoguri one is that it doesn’t come in a styrofoam bowl, so you have to cook it in a pot. Yes, a pot – those things you put on the stove and boil water in. It also has two seasoning packets as opposed to one for this bowl.

Overall, the Shin Bowl didn’t come close to the texture or taste of the Neoguri package. For one thing, the noodles do really taste like spongy Cup ‘O Noodle noodles. The flavor of the soup was not as spicy as the Neoguri either, but I wonder if that’s because I didn’t dump all of the packet in.
Raw and red flaming cornhole
The “vegetables” in these things are awful – I almost wish they didn’t put them in and just made the bowl bigger. It had carrots, shiitake (not shittake or shitocky) mushrooms and green onions. Sometimes for grins, I crack an egg in noodles like this. But that only works if they’re the type you cook on the stove.
I also felt like the amount of noodles wasn’t as substantial. But this could be because I was punch drunk hungry at the time.
Squinting, fiery turtle head poking out of it’s carapace
OK, I will stop with the rectum allusions. But I don’t apologize for them. To be honest, I couldn’t think of any other synonyms for bungholes. (PLEASE DO NOT WRITE IN TO TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE. THANK YE)
You see, I want people to read this review and think, “This is NOT the intelligent, musings of a high-bred (or in-bred) college student having fun with a blog.” I want people to read this review and think, “These are the projectile vomitings of a prickly, gross thirty seven year old idiot loser who eats instant noodles for breakfast lunch, dinner and dessert and then talks about how he has to take a spicy crap.”
Indeed.
Price: $0.99 for 3 oz bowl
Found At: Fresh & Easy
Cheap Eats Score: 5/10






January 26th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Nong Shim Bowl Noodle Soup Kimchi flavour (the one with the orange and red label) is my all-time favourite instant soup (12 for $8 CAD at Costco). Haven’t seen this kind in the stores yet, though.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I can definitely relate to the spongy texture- like cup of noodles that didn’t cook long enough. Yech. Oddly enough, I actually enjoy the texture of the vegetables, though. Kinda like corn and pea raisins.
January 27th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Why is it that almost all foods that people eat to save money have so many chemicals in them? Check out the ingredients in these foods! Msg, high fructose corn syrup, etc. I will continue to spend a little more and shop at Whole Foods for non preservative foods. A friend of mine buys her food at All a Dollar! I refuse to eat an old box of hamburger helper with more chemicals three mile island…..
January 30th, 2010 at 7:26 am
My fiance adds an egg at the last minute to add a bit of protein, texture, and taste to noodle and ramen packages. I prefer my ramen straight up, but the thicker noodle packages are really good with the egg.
January 31st, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Aww, how ironic. These are one of my favorite instant ramens! Quite possibly only because of the spicy soup and MSG though… Never really noticed the noodles too much.
February 3rd, 2010 at 6:11 am
I have never eaten ramen in a bowl despite being surrounded by it here in Japan. I think I used to buy some cheap ramen that you had to make in your own bowl when I was here for the first year, but since then, no thanks.
That being said, spicy hot stuff tempts me. One of these days, I might try it out, especially if it is “gourmet”.
February 7th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
omg, i just bought 2 packages of nong shim spicy noodles today. .79 each!!!
i like adding sliced boiled eggs and sliced green onions…
btw, i thought your rectal allusions were quite humorous!!!!
February 8th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Sorry if the link I put in before disqualified my post. Anyway, there are packets of miso soup that are just as inexpensive and surprisingly filling despite the small (1 cup) serving size. Much healthier, also, as long as you are unconcerned with your sodium intake.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:05 am
@kepi – I haven’t tried the Kimchi one yet, or maybe I have and just forgot.
@tim – LOL, they do remind me of raisins
@kathy – true, but it’s more difficult for me to make rectal jokes with stuff bought at whole foods. Or maybe not, I will give it a shot sometime =)
@bingsy – I like putting an egg in there too occasionally.
@kim – if they improved the noodles, I’d probably give it a higher score. I like spicy varieties too.
@orchid – You’ve never had the instant ramen in a bowl!? I thought for sure you’d get some once in awhile in Japan. But I guess there’s tons of better snacks over there to try out =)
@canine – rectal allusions are definitely great conversation. By the way, have you ever tried eating on the toilet…
@john – I’m not sure what happened there, but yeah, long links tend to mess up the formatting. I like miso soup too – but usually we make our own. Or rather, I go over to my parents and they make it. I’ll have to try out some of the instant type one of these days.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
“One difference with the Neoguri one is that it doesn’t come in a styrofoam bowl, so you have to cook it in a pot.”
The Shin Ramyun don’t have to be in bowls either!
They also come in packages you got to cook in a pot. (They’re also great snacks raw)