If you’re a noodle fanatic like me, you’ve probably heard of the Taiwanese dry noodle brand A-Sha noodles, which is steadily growing in popularity here in the states. If not, you’re probably wondering what the heck makes them “dry noodles.” Well, that comes from the fact that you’re expected to drain out the water after boiling them, and before adding the sauce. So, you don’t get the soup that a lot of prepared noodles offer.
One of A-Sha noodles’ main selling points is the simplicity of their recipes, as the noodles only list three ingredients: wheat flour, water, and salt. And unlike a lot of instant noodles, these noodles aren’t fried, so they tend to be a lot lower in fat than your typical packaged noodles. For example, one 86 gram package of Maruchan Chicken Soup Ramen will get you 14 grams (18% of your daily value) of total fat and 7 grams (36%) of saturated fat. But a 95 gram package of A-Sha’s Mandarin Style Noodle (with Original Soy Sauce) will get you only 2.5 grams of total fat and 0 grams of saturated fat. Although, A-Sha noodles still pack plenty of sodium with 1400mg (61% of your daily value), although that’s slightly better than Maruchan’s 1520 milligrams (66%).
I can practically hear you (and your stomach) saying, “Enough about health, what about the taste?” Well, we took it upon ourselves to boil up and sample a range of different A-Sha dry noodle flavors (including the A-Sha Hello Kitty noodles), judging them on taste and noodle texture. So, here’s our picks for the best A-Sha dry noodle packets you can buy in a store or on Amazon.
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- Mandarin Style Noodle with Original Soy Sauce
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A-Sha noodles come in several different styles, and the “Mandarin-Style” ones are similar in size and shape to wonton noodles. They’ve got a good bite, with a really nice consistency and a simple, wheat flavor. But the big flavor comes from the sauce, and this original soy sauce gives it a dark, rich soybean taste that I swear has hints of buckwheat in it. This set is one of their biggest sellers and seems like the most “standard” A-sha flavor, so it’s a great place to start to see if they’re to your liking.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Hakka Style Noodle with Chili Sauce
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These long, wide, flat noodles are one of the staples of the Hakka people, who are spread throughout Southern China and Taiwan. If you’re looking for spice, this is the best A-Sha noodles flavor for you, as the sauce is a mixture of soy sauce and chili paste that gives a lot of heat, while not overpowering some of the subtler flavors of onion, garlic, and sesame. It won’t burn your tongue off, but you’ll definitely be feeling the heat for a while after you eat.
Credit: Merc / Instacart
- Guanmiao Noodle (Hakka Sesame Oil Scallion)
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Guanmiao is a district in Tainan City, Taiwan, where the noodles are dried in the sun, making a long, straight noodle with a slightly chewy texture, that reminds me of egg noodles. These “knife cut” noodles come with a fairly mild soy sauce, which really lets the scallion and sesame oil shine through. Although, I could’ve used a little bit more sauce, as I felt it got lost in the noodles. But overall, extremely tasty.
Credit: Merc / Walmart
- Tainan Style Noodle with Original Soy Sauce
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Tainan noodles are long and thin, and really remind me of thin-style ramen. But the real draw here was the sauce, which has a delicious, nutty taste that makes it stand out from the one that came with the Mandarin-style noodles. (It also cooked in half the time of the Mandarin style dishes, so if you need your noodles in two minutes, instead of four, I’d try this one.)
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Badtz-Maru Mandarin Style Noodles with Sesame Boss Sauce
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Yep, that’s Badtz-Maru, the ill-tempered penguin buddy of Hello Kitty on the front of the package. You see, there’s a line of A-Sha Hello Kitty noodles featuring Sanrio characters on the packages. And with sauce names like “supercut soy sauce,” I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting any of them to be making the top of the list. But honestly, the Badtz-Maru A-Sha flavor has a really tasty sauce featuring chili, sesame paste, and sesame oil, which gives the dish a little heat and a lot of toasted, nutty taste. It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting based on the cartoon penguin on the wrapper, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
Credit: Merc / World Market
Best Entry Point
Best Wide Noodles
Best Knife-Cut Noodles
Best Thin Noodles
Best of the Best
Other A-Sha noodles we tried: Hello Kitty Mandarin Style Noodle with Supercute Soy Sauce, Keroppi Mandarin Style Noodle with Silly Spicy Sauce, My Melody Mandarin Style Noodle with Friendly Scallion Sauce
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!