Since their invention in Japan in the 1950s, instant noodles have experienced a huge boom. In Switzerland, too, especially among young people, Asian noodle dishes are becoming more and more common on the lunch table. But instant noodle soups are fast food.
Traditional ramen
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“Ramen” translated means long noodles. They are part of everyday cuisine in Japan. Homemade ramen is a far cry from the instant noodles in the test, with its dehydrated ingredients that are ready in three minutes.
Kazufumi Nakamura, chef at the Yume Ramen restaurant in Zurich, relies on homemade noodles because of their better texture.
For the ramen soup broth, he cooks onions, bones and mushrooms over several hours. This creates the typical umami taste – a kind of fifth taste.
At the end, the ramen is topped with bamboo, bean sprouts, meat and an egg.
They are cheap and quick to prepare. The information on the packaging shows that the products contain a lot of additives and, above all, a lot of fat, for example 25 grams per 100 grams. That is more fat than a cheeseburger contains (approx. 11 grams of fat per 100 grams).
These noodle soups have been tested
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Where does the high fat content come from? During processing, the noodles are fried to preserve them. The result: A porous surface, so they can be quickly prepared as instant noodles.
This is how the laboratory tested
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A specialized food laboratory analyzed 14 different instant noodles for “Kassenrutsch”. All ingredients were included (including the contents of the bags) and calculated to 100 grams. For an adult, expect 100 grams of ingredients without liquid per meal.
The laboratory determined the fat content. The Federal Office for Food Safety, BLV, recommends that the daily fat intake for adults should be between 20 and 35 percent of the daily energy intake, i.e. around a third, according to the food pyramid. This corresponds to 60 to 80 grams per day.
The lab looked for fat pollutants like 3-MCPD and glycidol. These arise during processing when oil or fat is heated strongly. 3-MCPD can damage organs and glycidol is considered carcinogenic.
There is currently neither a legal limit nor a guideline value for 3-MCPD. However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set a TDI (tolerable daily intake) of 2.0 micrograms per body weight for 3-MCPD.
All products were significantly lower, between 0 and 24 percent of the tolerable daily dose was used. Four products contained values between 18 and 24 percent. Although Michael Arand, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Zurich, also gives the all-clear for the consumption of these products with regard to 3-MCPD and glycidol: “The expected intake size of these products is harmless. And that’s gratifying.”
Nevertheless, “Kassenrutsch” did not let the jury judge these four noodle soups.
The disadvantage of this processing is that fat pollutants can be created. After a laboratory evaluation, of the original 14 products, the ones with the highest fat values were eliminated.
Big price differences
The expert jury evaluated ten instant noodle soups during the tasting. There are big price differences, the most expensive costs 4.81 francs per 100 grams, the cheapest 0.93 francs.
This is the jury
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Dennis Wei Heng Chee, studies at the EHL Hotel Management School Chur-Passugg. His family is originally from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Kevin Taro Bicker, grew up in Japan and Switzerland. He graduated from the Swiss Hotel Management School in Lucerne and ran a pop-up noodle bar in Zug. Today he runs the Hidén Harlekin, a jazz club in Zug.
Sherly Cho, originally comes from Korea. Seven years ago she founded the cooking school Sherly’s Kitchen in Zurich and offers Asian cooking courses.
Kazufumi Nakamura, trained chef, was born in Tokyo. He has been working as head chef at Yume Ramen in Zurich for four years.
Falk Daubner, founded the ramen noodle soup delivery service “Sudelnuppe” five years ago. He recently opened the Miso Bar Binz in Zurich.
Soon Veggie Ramen received the best rating and rating of good with a grade of 5.2. The jury agreed that the noodles were al dente or al dente and the soup or broth was harmonious and had a good aroma. Cost: 2.50 francs per 100 grams. Dennis Wei Heng Chee, jury member and student at the EHL Hotel Management School Chur-Passugg, praises it “good, lasting taste”.
Nissin Demae Ramen Chicken impresses with its sesame flavor
Nissin Demae Ramen Chicken received a slightly lower grade of 4.8 and was also rated good. The noodle soup with chicken flavor impressed the jury with its elastic noodles and sesame flavor.
This is how it was tested in the tasting
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“Kassenrutsch” tested 10 instant noodle soups. To do this, the products were prepared according to the instructions on the packaging, i.e. poured boiling water over them or briefly cooked in a pan.
It was a blind tasting; the jury members didn’t know which products they had to judge.
Test criteria were the appearance, scent, aroma, taste, consistency of the noodles and the finish. The jury gave grades for each test criterion. For the overall grade, the criteria aroma and taste as well as finish had the most weight, a total of 50 percent.
Sherly Cho, founder of Sherly’s Kitchen, can imagine having this product at home in case of an emergency. She says she would add an egg and green onions to improve the soup.
Soft consistency and too dominant spiciness
The jury gave the Nissin Cup Noodles Tasty Chicken a “Satisfactory” grade of 4.6. She praised the soft texture of the noodles. Kimchi Ramen received a slightly lower grade. The jury found the spiciness was too dominant.
Lidl’s instant noodles are also sufficient. The chicken-flavored soup is the cheapest in the test at a price of 93 cents per 100 grams.
Knorr noodles don’t perform well enough
The experts rated three products as unsatisfactory. When it came to Knorr’s vegetable noodles, the jury criticized the noodles for being too thin, but in the end they gave it a final score of 3.9. The Asian Noodles Chicken Taste from the same manufacturer was criticized for its bland taste. There was also a deduction for Shin Ramyun Noodle because the noodles were rubbery, they said.
The most expensive product tastes like “wet paper”
Two products failed the test. The product from King Soba received the rating poor with a final grade of 2.0. Jury member Falk Daubner criticized: “Even though the noodles were prepared according to the instructions, they were still raw.”
The jury gave Arche’s Instant Ramen, the most expensive product in the test, an even worse grade of 1.8. Jury member Kevin Taró Bicker complained that the noodles tasted like “wet paper”. Kazufumi Nakamura, Japanese chef at Yume Ramen, couldn’t imagine that there was a product “that was so bland.”
opinion
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Yumihana, a specialist retailer for Asian products, writes to “Kassenjagd” that the criticism of the Nongshim Shin Ramyun Noodles they sell cannot be understood: “This product has been sold in Asia and Switzerland for years. It has been one of the most popular instant noodles in Korea since the 1980s.”
