In a recent ranking of the world’s best and worst instant noodles, brands from China got several honorable mentions in the bottom 10, and absolutely none in the top 10. The reviews were published by Hans Lienesch “The Ramen Rater”, and as Chinese cuisine prides itself on the variety and flavors of its regional noodles, even the state-run media China News was taken by surprise that half of the worsts are from China.

Both No. 1 and No. 2 on the ‘best of the worst’ list are sweet potato noodles from Mainland China, whose “slimy” and greasy texture Hans disliked. Aside from his aversion towards sweet potato noodles themselves, his criticism of the Single Noble noodles was that the broth and “horrid veggies that didn’t hydrate well”, and as for the Fei-Chang flavored No.2, he thought that it smelled of “dirt and urine”, which probably does come from the fact that it is spicy pork intestines flavored (pork intestine dishes are enjoyed by many Chinese in different parts of China).

Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese products take up over half of the worsts on the list, which China News attributes to Lienesch’s non-Asian taste buds. Taiwanese company Nan Hsing waved off the news, saying that customers sometimes buy their products 5 to 10 boxes at a time, so it doesn’t really matter that Lienesch has different preferences.

The 10 Worst Instant Noodles, according to “The Ramen Rater”, are as below:

10. Wei Lih Instant Noodles With Artificial Beef Flavored Soup Stock — Taiwan

9. GreeNoodle Miso Made with Moroheiya — Thailand

8. Fashion Food Oriental Flavor Instant Noodles — Thailand

7. Baijia Hot & Sour Flavor Instant Rice Noodle — China

6. Noodle Time Spicy Thai Instant Ramen Noodles With Real Vegetables

5. Nan Hsing Vegetarian Rice Noodles — Taiwan

4. Paldo Green Tea Chlorella Noodles — South Korea

3. Fu Chang Chinese Noodle Company Pork, Seafood & Noodles Combo — United States

2. Baijia Instant Sweet Potato Noodle Spicy Fei-Chang Flavor — China

1. Baijia Single Noble Black Bone Chicken Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Noodles — China

Image courtesy of The Ramen Rater. Master image courtesy of Xinhua.