Unusual and tasty ramen-style noodles

I’ve been eating ramen since college – and I still do from time to time – but I pretty much missed the ramen revolution of the last decade or so. I’ve seen the new ramen styles at the grocery store and read vague reference to them, but I never paid much attention. Filled with carbs and fats, ramen is not particularly healthy, and when I crave it, I want the old, familiar blocks of Top Ramen or Maruchan, with a lot of cheese added for an Argentinian touch.

Still, I saw a box of A-Sha Meteor Noodles with Danzai Sauce on sale in the Grocery Outlet flyer, and I figured I could dip my toes into the ramen craze by trying these. While the ramen was good, I don’t think I’ll hurry to put my whole foot inside it.

These noodles are air dried, rather than fried, so they don’t have much flavor on their own. They have to be boiled in water for 5 minutes, but rather than add a powder to the boiling water to create a broth, you drain them and mix them with the sauce that comes in the pouch. All the flavor comes the sauce. And I just can’t really describe the flavor. It’s savory, maybe somewhat meaty in the way that mushrooms are, but not really tasting of mushrooms, and fully of MSG-produced umami. It’s tasty enough, but not memorable and I can’t imagine myself craving it. If anything, it made me miss regular ramen.

My husband liked it more and had it a couple of times. I don’t think we’d buy it again after we finish this box.

I think we paid $6 for the box of 12 at Grocery Outlet, but its official retail value is $20.