Candy Kit Review – Ramen

I bought three candy kits for Shoonie, from Anime North. Here is the first one.

Brand: Kracie

Cost: $8.00 from Vendor’s Alley (Anime North 2017)

 

We were eager to try this kit. After the great hamburger kit of 2014, we couldn’t wait to torture ourselves again, with a kit that tasted like the real thing!

This weekend was Shoonie’s Graduation Weekend. After enjoying home-cooked Japanese-style curry, and Uncle Tetsu’s famous cheesecake for dessert, we settled down to make yet another take on the blooper reel that is our lives.

Click for RRCherrypie’s tutorial

This kit contains:

1. Broth/soup
2. Noodles
3. Filling/garnish
4. Gyoza (dumpling) dough
5. Piping bag
6. Toothpick
7. Tork (Sorry, Shoonie. Maybe next time. 😦 )

 

The plastic tray contains four sections: one section is a stamp/mold for a fish cake (naruto) and boiled egg. (Tamago) Another is a dough press for the gyoza. It looks like the thing we use to make neures. (Sp? They’re like coconut-filled empanadas) The rectangular section is for mixing the noodles, and you can probably tell which one is for serving the ramen. Give up? It’s… the rectangular section.

After cutting all the sections out, we went straight to the gyoza dough. To make the gyoza, you must divide the dough into two sections. Don’t forget to remove some bits to make the egg, and fish cake. How much? Well, however much fits the mold!

Or so we thought… we totally missed the circle guidelines on the piping bag. Luckily we went back with the gyoza and remade them, even if it meant tearing the first one open to dump the fillings.

The gyoza dough was nice and soft, unlike the seaweed from the sushi kit. Perhaps it’s because I bought this one fresh?

It was fun to watch Shoonie pipe the noodles. And the final product didn’t look too bad, either.

 

Overall Verdict

Difficulty: Easy

Aside from the mini-measuring derps, this was an easy kit. The inclusion of pictures on the packets helped, as well.

Taste: 7/10

The broth doesn’t taste like real broth at all. In fact, it tastes like grape…very sweet grape. It wasn’t a great idea to sip on the leftover broth. XP The noodles and gyoza dough taste like Ramune soda, or “candy sprite” as Peck Peck calls it.

The gyoza filling tasted like cola. The only thing I didn’t like was the texture: I expected popping candy, yet this stuff…. melted in your mouth, and left a cold feeling on your tongue. If I recall, that’s usually a sign of artificial sweeteners being used. We discarded the remaining filling.

 

Overall verdict: 7/10 Beware the cola.

I was pleasantly surprised that the soup and noodles tasted like candy, rather than grape noodles in actual broth. It appears only the original kit used real broth. However, the broth is now incredibly sweet, and a bit thick.

Candy ramen isn’t enough to sate cravings, so keep a pack of 40 cent Mr. Noodles handy!

Would you try this kit? Have you tried the original ramen kit? What do you think the other two candy kits are? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

30 Day Drawing Challenge: Day 3 – Favourite Food

Most people associate soup with cold winter days. But I believe there’s never a wrong time for a nice bowl of soup. Thick soups make for filling meals, and noodle soups are great light snacks. Out of potato chips? Just shake up a bag of raw Mr. Noodles and the soup stock! But don’t tell mother Raichu I said that.

Also viewed at: http://pikainabag.deviantart.com/art/30-Day-Art-Challenge-Day-3-Favourite-Food-622123028

As you can probably tell, this particular drawing was inspired off the ramen Sosuke’s mum made in the movie, Ponyo (on the Cliff by the Sea). The trick is to close your eyes and wait three minutes. It doesn’t work if you peek!

The truth is, I still haven’t seen Ponyo. After delving deeper into the wonderful world of interactive entertainment known as “vidya gaims,” it has become harder to sit idle and watch movies, in which the characters follow a straight path, upon which you have no influence. Even if the video game is linear, you have the feeling of knowing the story cannot progress until you do something to help them along.

The most fascinating part of Miyazaki’s films were the little details that make things feel so much more three dimentional. From Chihiro tapping her shoes in Spirited Away, to Pazu licking his lips before playing his trumpet in Castle in the Sky, these little details stay true to real life, and make the movies feel like both fantasy and reality rolled into one. In Ponyo, it’s the inclusion of this very simple trick you can do for kids. And for yourself, on those days when you also want tea.

You might recall a previous post, in which we tried the 3-minute ramen recipe. If you want a more vegetarian-friendly recipe, skip the ham and eggs, and add a spoonful of organic peanut butter. It tastes like pad Thai. Don’t forget the 4068!* (You know you’ve been working at the grocery store too long when…)

And thus concludes another brief post about the drawing challenge. We’re nearly at the next plushie post! What could it be?! Here’s a hint:

Going back to where it all began…

How do you like your instant noodles? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~

*That’s the PLU for green onions, by the way.

Pika’s Soba Noodle Soup!

“Hey Pika, where have you been all month?” – Nobody

Regardless of the length of summer vacation, everybody seems to wait until August to do the really fun things. Maybe it’s because the weather evens out by then, maybe it’s because they spent July saving up money for August frolicks, but whatever the reason, August is the time of all the fun things. Case in point: I just got back from Washington, DC. I saw the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, two landmarks that I’d only seen in movies and TV shows. On the way back, we did some shopping in Grove City. Shoonie got a little green bow. BOW!!! |>o<|

And today… just feeling bleh. How to describe the feeling… it’s when you have more on your plate than you thought. Or when you take work with you on a trip thinking you’ll get it done, but you don’t because it’s a vacation. Or when you miss somebody. Or you remember the red Navi is coming soon. Whatever it is, it can be temporarily healed with comfort food!

Guess what I bought today? Soba noodles! These are Japanese noodles made from buckwheat. The ones I bought come in a pack of 6 individually wrapped bundles. Each bundle makes one serving of noodles. Genius! Why can’t we package spaghetti like this? In Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, you can cook buckwheat noodles with egg. That was the inspiration behind this improvised recipe, along with my Naruto-esque love for ramen. So, without further ado, let’s get comfort cooking!

Ingredients

1 bundle Soba (buckwheat) noodles

2 cups water

1 chicken flavoured bouillon cube

1 egg

2 sticks of imitation crab

Chopped chives for garnish

First thing’s first, boil the water and dissolve the cube to make your soup stock.

Crack the egg into a bowl and beat lightly. Set aside.

Then, take a bundle of soba noodles and pop them in the pot. Do not break the noodles! These are soba noodles, not spaghetti. They may look like cardboard, but they cook in about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop up your imitation crab into bite size pieces. I don’t care what people say; imitation crab is tasty and convenient. But if you would rather have stronger tasting protein, you can substitute the imitation crab for ham, hot dogs, bits of cooked chicken or beef, or tofu if you’re an alie—-er, I mean vegetarian. 😀 Whatever you decide to add, make sure it’s cooked. This way you can simply toss it in to thaw and warm up.

Pour the beaten egg into the noodle soup, stirring constantly to disperse the egg. Look familiar? If you frequent Asian restaurants, it should; you’ve just made egg drop soup!

Finally, add in your chopped crab meat. Turn off the heat and let the soup “rest” for about a minute before serving.

Pour into a bowl, top with a few chives, and you’re done!

Final Verdict

Tasty and comforting! This is a very versatile soup. Don’t like crab? Try ham. Think egg drop looks gross? Maybe poached is more your style. I think next time, I will try a meatless approach by substituting the crab for sautéed mushrooms, and instead of egg drop just hard boil and slice the egg.

Eww… these noodles turned out a bit slimy. I guess that’s why the package said to rinse the noodles after cooking. Basically, cook noodles separately, drain, rinse, and add to prepared broth. I wish I had read this blog post before hand. Also beware, egg drop soup does not keep well. It will leave a gritty feeling in your mouth when eaten cold, and congeals the next day. Bring a friend, or at least a large appetite!

I would definitely eat soba again, and in different ways. I said before that these are not spaghetti, but maybe I will try using these noodles instead of spaghetti sometime.

Have you tried soba? Do you eat your noodles with self-confidence? How do you prepare your soba? Comment below!

Pika, so happy~