#065 SICHUAN Dan Dan Noodle Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Thread
It’s lunch time and I’m hungry! First pack I reached for was this mysterious pack of noodles, mysterious because I’ve no idea where I got it from! Bonus that it’s bean thread noodles! One of my favorite kinds, otherwise known as silver noodles, clear noodles or cellophane noodles. And bonus that the cooking method is easy as pie: fill bowl with noodles, seasoning, boiling hot water and cover for 3 minutes (I covered for 5). Tip: Put seasoning and paste in your bowl before the noodles!! I should have done that. Once these were done…it was time to taste. When I lifted the plate I could smell the aroma of star of anise! Honestly, I used to find the flavor of star of anise really gross but then I had a tea egg and it was all love from then on. So it looked like the noodles cooked all the way through, they sometimes don’t with this cooking method. Alternatives are to cook the traditional way, in a pot or to nuke it in the microwave. The noodles are a little thicker than I anticipated…not a bad thing at all. The soup is oily and tasted a little like Taiwanese Beef noodles which I love so this Sichuan Dan Dan flavor wasn’t bad at all! There were little bits of what looked like pickled veggies and sesame seeds but besides from that these noodles are a lacking in the toppings department. I’m almost afraid of saying this…but it could of used a bit more salt…but the sodium levels in instant noodles are so sky high anyways…it would be insane to add more. At the end of the day I’d totally eat these again ……as a snack!! Haha. Wish I remembered where I got these from!
Cellophane noodles | Comments (2)#047 LUCKY ME! Supreme Sotanghon Instant Vermicelli Soup
Lucky me! that I have good friends that feed my noodle obsession. When I peruse the noodle isle, I am usually drawn to the Japanese and Korean noodles first and end up with a basket full before I even get to anything else. Fortunately for me I get all kinds of interesting noodles that I wouldn’t otherwise come upon if it weren’t for me peeps. This being one of them. I got a whole shlew of Filipino brand noodles for my birthday last year. The portion size is very snack appropriate. Included with the individually wrapped bean thread noodles were a packet of seasoning, packet of oil, dehydrated carrots and chicken bits. Well, all the ingredients went in the bowl along with hot water from my Zojirushi water dispenser, covered the bowl up and the wait began. I was pretty content with how the noodles came out, they were chewy and a little on the gelatinous side – perfect! The soup is a simple soup with a strong flavors of onion and carrots. The star was really the noodles though and wish the soup had more of a unique Filipino flavor.
#045 RICE CHOICE Instant Bean Thread Beef Flavor Mien Bo
I’ve noticed more of a variety of Vietnamese instant noodles popping up. However, they are hard to find. These were given to me by a friend, otherwise, I’ve never seen these in the Asian grocery stores. Most of the Vietnamese noodle dishes are made with rice noodles as it’s used more often in their dishes. I was surprised by all the ingredients and fork that they were able to cram in this tiny cup. The soup had a distinct beef flavor. I think I tasted a hint of basil also but overall, the soup was too salty. I could have done without the oil packet or just added less too. As you can see, the portion size of these noodles are very small and barely enough to make a decent meal. I would not buy these for myself.
#025 VIFON Phu Gia Mien Instant Bean Thread Bamboo Shoot & Artificial Pork Flavor
Woke up late Saturday morning and wanted something quick so I grabbed these noodles because it didn’t require a lot of effort or cooking time. When I emptied the seasoning packet I noticed the huge chunks of MSG. I smelled the bamboo as soon as I poured the hot water over the noodles and thought to myself that this flavor is going to be awful. Bamboo is not my favorite but I’ve started to acquire the taste for it as my palette has matured. The bean thread noodles were thicker and chewier than other noodles. The bamboo flavor was not as strong as it smelled. There are bits of artificial pork and lots of dehydrated green onions. I had that MSG tingle on my tongue when I was done with the soup. mmm mmm em es geeee.