How A-Sha Noodles Became the Hottest Name in Instant Ramen

[Celerity]

The Taiwanese brand has collaborations with Momofuku, BT21, Hello Kitty, and more.

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/a-sha-noodles-instant-ramen-profile



The typical packet of instant ramen, conjures up memories of noodles with an unsettling yellow tinge, lackluster latchkey kid meals, or late-night college debauchery. But it’s certainly never been considered gourmet—until maybe now. A-Sha, the Taiwanese dry noodle brand that has partnered with Momofuku and collaborated with Sanrio for Hello Kitty-branded noodles, is trying to change that image.

The brand started in 1977 and specializes in air dried, rather than fried, instant noodles. “The traditional ramen that’s in blocks is deep fried whereas air dried noodles are usually dried straight, like a stick,” explains A-Sha’s president Young Chang. “The concept was to create air dried noodles in a block-shaped format to look like instant noodles, but have all the better-for-you things.” The result is a wheat flour noodle that has the springy texture of fresh noodles with the ease of preparation as instant noodles.

A-Sha, which translates to prestigious, grew in popularity in Taiwan but remained on the island without much global fanfare. Chang, upon trying it with his business partner Henry Liao, could instantly recognize the brand’s potential outside of its home country. “It was 2009 when our group got involved because my business partner, who lives in Taiwan, really liked this iconic Taiwanese brand and wanted to see it do better—wanted to keep promoting Taiwan’s culture,” Chang says. All the pieces were there: The noodles were already being manufactured in a Taiwanese factory, using Taiwanese ingredients. All the pair needed to do was find distribution channels to bring it stateside and get the word out.

The first inkling that they were on to something was when A-Sha noodles made it onto the Ramen Rater, a popular blog that does exactly what its title suggests. This was in 2013, and Taiwanese varieties of ramen were absent from the Ramen Rater’s website, so Chang floated noodles to writer Hans Lienesch and hoped for the best. The result was positive reviews and an inaugural Taiwanese ramen ranking list, of which A-Sha took first place. “We started getting all this online [fame] and went straight to the stores and like, ‘Look! We’re the number one noodle from Taiwan!’” Chang laughs. It worked. The brand’s big break came from Albertsons and Safeway in 2014, and the rest of the grocery stores followed suit. You can now find A-Sha noodles at Costco, Target, Cost Plus, Walmart, H-mart, and more.



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[LiberalArkie]

1. 1460 mg of sodium per serving?

[mike_c]

2. I've been buying them from Momofuku and using my own noodle sauce and chili oil....

They're good noodles.