Bottom Line: The Sriracha Ramen is pretty good for instant noodles and delivers a bit of a kick.
Ramen and other Asian-style noodles have become somewhat of a gourmet thing nowadays, and there are all sorts of establishments out there selling Ramen, Pho, Udon, Soba, and more. These can make for some pretty heft bowls of soup with all of the toppings they are piling on, but basic instant Ramen is still a thing and makes for a quick and easy (and cheap) meal. You will find plenty of varieties on the store shelves, including some spicy options.
I have tried the Samyang Hot Chicken Ramen (more on that here) and the Tapatio Ramen (more on that here), and I also found Sriracha Ramen and decided to give those a try. These are made in partnership with Ace Foods and Huy Fong and they have the official rooster emblem on the package. I’m not sure if the noodles are infused with the sauce or if it is part of the seasoning or both, but you will definitely notice its presence.
These noodles have the taste you expect from instant Ramen, but that Sriracha helps to kick them to the next level. The flavor is very similar to what you would get if you added the Rooster Sauce or Chili Garlic Sauce to a regular cup of Ramen. It gives the broth a nice richness along with some tang and a definite kick. There is a slight bit of sweetness in there as well which brings it all together, delivering a rather tasty bowl of noodles. It may not be what you get at one of the gourmet noodle places, but these are at least a little better than the cheapest Ramen on the shelf.
Heat-wise, these go beyond Mild on my scale and are approaching Medium. The bites with mostly noodles don’t have as much kick, but when you add the broth, the heat amps up. This is hotter than if you just added Sriracha or Chili Garlic since those come in around Mild, and you don’t really need to add any more sauce to the noodles.
I consider Ramen, or any of the instant noodles mostly, a blank slate, and I rarely eat them just as they are in the container unless I’m stuck at the office and all I have available is a cup of the noodles. I generally like to add some veggies and if I have some meat available and/or a cooked egg, I might throw that in as well. For the Sriracha Ramen, I just made a pretty simple addition. I minced up one green onion, a tablespoon of cilantro, a Thai chili, and one bud of garlic. I threw all of that in after I cooked the noodles and that adds a nice freshness and really kicks up the flavor. That one Thai chili also bumped up the heat close to the Hot level on my scale.
Nutrition-wise, one serving is 230 calories and there are two servings per 3.8 oz cup. I ate the whole thing, but that’s still not bad as it comes up to less that 500 cals (the veggies add hardly anything calorie-wise). This is pretty high on the sodium, though, at 1900mg for the whole container. And I advise not spending too much time reading the rather expansive list of ingredients, otherwise you may never eat instant Ramen again!
If I recall correctly, I found these at World Marker a while ago. I can’t remember for certain because the container got pushed back in the pantry and I only recently rediscovered it. That’s okay, though, because instant Ramen is the official food of the apocalypse. People will be finding these packages a thousand years from now as they rebuild civilization and discover that the noodles are still edible. I can’t find these readily available online at the moment, and my World Market did not have any on the shelves during my most recent visit. That may be related to the Sriracha shortage and perhaps they will start showing up again now that the sauce is back. If you do stumble upon them, I advise picking up a few packages. They are rather good for instant Ramen and they do deliver a bit of a kick.
Nutrition Info:
Ingredients: Wheat, Modified Tapioca Starch, Palm Oil, Salt, Sugar, Chili Pepper, Huy Fong Sriracha Sauce (Chili, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Acetic Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Bisulfite (as Preservatives), Xanthan Gum), Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Yeast, Dextrin, Citric Acid, Soybeans, Soy Protein Isolate, Glycine, Tomato, Silicon Dioxide, Monosodium Glutamate, Vinegar, Kelp, Disodium Succinate, Oyster, Garlic, Onion, Sodium Carbonate, Potassium Carbonate, Pentasodium Triphosphate, Disodium Diphosphate, Ascorbic Acid, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Parsley, Tocopherol, Polysorbate, Sodium Diacetate, Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Paprika, Riboflavin, Spices, and Natural and Artificial Flavors.
Serving Size: 55g (Half the Container)
Calories: 260
Fat: 7g (3g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 5g
Carbs: 37
Sodium: 950mg