If you’ve wanted a really in-depth documentary about the instant noodle, this is a great one. From past to present and beyond, this documentary follows the journey – from Momofuku Ando’s process of inventing the instant noodle, to how it’s developed in different cultures.
The day is upon us – the day to review the new Hokkien Prawn Noodle – the second instant noodle from the company that made the number one on my 2014 Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time list! As with their Penang White Curry Noodle, Hokkien Prawn Noodle is a bit of a mystery for me. I had never tried White Curry before I tried their product, nor have I ever had Hokkien Prawn Noodle before. I did a little digging online and found the Penang Hawker Food Blog. I found this text there:
Hokkien hae mee (Hokkien/Fujian prawn noodles; 福建虾麺) is served in Penang (with a variant served in Singapore known as Hae mee). It is a dish of egg noodles and rice noodles in a fragrant stock, which is made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns, as well as pork or chicken. Traditionally, small cubes of fried pork fat are added to the soup, but this is now less common due to health concerns. It is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, vegetables, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime. The dish is served with sliced red chili, light soy sauce and sambal.
I know that I really like prawns and prawn flavored things, but I have a feeling this is going to be something completely different compared to what I’m used to. I love curry, but the curry I’d loved in the past was so different from the White Curry. With that in mind, I dive into the unkown, in search of deliciousness.
Here’s the detail from the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Contains shrimp. To prepare, boil 380ml water and add noodle block. Cook for 3 minutes. Add sachet contents and enjoy!
The noodle block.
Powdered soup base sachet.
Has a seafood scent.
The paste sachet.
Has a very nice aroma of spices and shrimp.
The fried onion garnish sachet.
A very good quantity of fried onions.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added mung bean sprouts, sauteed shrimp and sweet onion with soy sauce and hard boiled egg. Wow. The noodles are nice and chewy and there’s a good quantity of them. They have a nice color to them too. The broth – wow. Where do I begin? The broth has a nice heartiness and thickness. Strong prawn flavor leaps out of the bowl along with a kind of sweetness that is pounced on by a nice spicy heat. The crunch of fried onion is such a nice addition – especially with their quantity and quality; they’re not pulverized tiny bits but nice big pieces. This is truly an exemplary bowl of noodles – I can’t wait to try their next product! 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 9555655005258.
When MyKuali’s Penang White Curry Noodle hit the top of my Top Ten list for 2014, people really wanted to try it all over the world. Here’s a show from Japan where they hunt for these noodles!
Woo-hoo! I’ve been looking for a couple varieties by Maruchan for a while and this is one of them. I want to thank Craig Y. and all the nice folks at Maruchan for getting this one in my hands! I’m sure someone out there is going to say ‘Hard to find? It’s at every store around me!’ One thing though is that not every product is marketed or distributed to every area. One example of this kind of thing is a soda called Cheerwine. It’s quite popular and easily found in the southern United States, but it’s relatively unknown on the west coast. Anyways, Jalapeno Cheddar noodles sounds pretty neat! Let’s have a look at this one.
Here’s the detail from the cardboard outer (click image to enlarge). Contains chicken. To prepare, add boiling water to inside fill line. Cover and let sit for 3 minutes. Stir and enjoy!
The noodle cup, sans cardboard outer.
Detail of the lid (click image to enlarge).
The noodle block. All seasonings are infused into the block.
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added bell peppers and beef sauteed in a little Worcestershire and some sliced green onion. The noodles are broad and flat – which lent well to the flavor I think. The noodles are just chewy and crumbly enough – definitely in the comfort food range of texture. The broth is of a creamy jalapeno cheese flavor. After 3 minutes of steeping, the broth is, well, brothy. After a stir and another minute to cool, the broth gained more of a sauce kind of thickening. The jalapeno flavor is there, however the heat is very, very mild. so if you like the flavor of jalapeno but not the heat, you’ll like this one. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars.UPC bar code 041789001673.
I think this is my favorite Maruchan commercial – it’s kind of fascinating to see the melding of such divergent cultures – Japanese ramen absorbed into Mexican culture. Besides, I think Mariachi bands are pretty awesome.
Here’s a new one from Nongshim, and it’s definitely unique. It’s a stir noodle, which means that there’s no broth, but a sauce that it stirred in to coat the noodles. Another unique thing is that it can be served hot OR cold! I was thinking of using a special divided bowl I have, but one side is bigger than the other and so I came up with an idea: since they sent a few packs, I’ll make one hot, sample it and then make one cold and sample it – easy enough. Something else I found interesting was on the right and left sides of the package. It says “NONGSHIM BLACK CLASS NOODLE DISH.” The final interesting this about this one is the inclusion of chipotle. Chipotle? Now that’s different – don’t think I’ve come across that being used in an instant before. Well, let’s open this one up and see what’s inside!
Here’s the back of the package (click image to enlarge). Contains fish. To prepare, add noodle block and vegetable sachet to 400ml boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes. Now to make it hot, simply drain and stir in contents of the liquid sachet. To make it cold, drain and run under cold water and stir in contents of liquid sachet. Enjoy!
The noodle block.
The vegetable sachet.
Loys of mushrooms and peas!
The sauce sachet.
Can smell the chipotle!
Finished (click image to enlarge). Added mung bean sprouts and sliced green onion. The noodles have a thick ramyun gauge. They have a nice texture and chewiness – very good! The flavor is nice – has a light start and then wham – spicy! What’s interesting is the chipotle component too – not something I’ve tasted in an instant before and it works pretty well. The heat lingers and builds the more you eat! The vegetables were very good – I liked the mushrooms and I’m not a big fan of mushrooms! 4.25 out of 5.0 stars. By the way, the above is it served cold. On hot versus cold, I liked them about equally – although since it’s a warmer day here and in the Summer, cold seemed a skosh nicer.
Here’s a video about where these noodles are made! Yup – in California! I got to visit with my wife in 2012 and it was really awesome there – if you are in the area and can do a plant tour, you won’t regret it – it’s a lot of fun and fascinating!
