Instant Noodle Around the World 16 - MAMA Pad Kee Mao

I often laugh at the level of spiciness in Europe. What people say "spicy" is either mildly spicy or not spicy at all to the point that I cannot detect the slightest taste of spiciness. Well, in English, the word "spicy" means "with spices", and this means when non-hot ingredients like turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon are added into the dish, they will still call it "spicy". In Indonesian, "spicy" means the heat coming from chili peppers that make you cry for forgiveness. Some mothers even use chili peppers to punish their children when they misbehave or when they talk back rudely (ouch). My mom never did that to us, though. I just heard stories from my friends. With the crazy price hike of chili peppers in Indonesia, I wonder if people still do that.

But anyways, after not having real hot, spicy food for a long time, this instant noodle almost killed my tongue.

The noodle was ordinary, and the chili flakes and the dehydrated vegetables were ordinary. But the green chili paste is definitely out of the ordinary.

The noodle looked harmless: there's no trace of chili flakes or redness in it.

But once you put it in your mouth... wow. Even I admit this is very spicy, and I normally have a high tolerance level for spiciness.

My Thai friend said that this noodle is for curing drunk people. I assume that with this level of spiciness, even those who lost their mind will be back to the real world. It's a little horrifying indeed.

Well, conclusion? The little devil inside me feels like testing it out on my friend if he/she ever gets drunk next time (and if I have this noodle with me).



...nah, just kidding ;)

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Instant Noodle around the World 13 - MAMA Kimchi

In Instant Noodle around the World part 7 I mentioned that I like MAMA Tom Yum Soup flavored instant noodles from Thailand. Just about a week ago I went to Den Haag again with my friend to pick up our passport from the Irish embassy and went to the same oriental groceries shop we visited before, and while my friend was busy getting pickled cabbage and fish sweet potato instant noodle, I was checking the entire instant noodle aisle for interesting stuffs. 

My discovery: Kimchi flavor MAMA noodle. 

Generally, Korean intant noodles, especially those with spicy-flavored soups, have thick, chewy noodles unlike MAMA's Tom Yum flavored noodles. Well, the noodle was indeed different from the typical MAMA noodles:

It's thicker and more pale. The typical "traditional" MAMA noodle is normally a little brownish and thin. You can even just pour hot water into the noodle in a bowl, and it will be ready to eat in 5 minutes. This noodle has very weak yellow tint. Somehow it looks a little unappetizing, but it doesn't really matter when the soup has an opaque, reddish/orange color, right? Might as well cut back on production cost and make it pale.

There was dehydrated vegetables, but none of them represents kimchi. And I was a little disappointed.

To be honest, I'm not satisfied with the overall appearance. The noodle's texture was okay, not too chewy, not too soft. The soup's flavor is mostly sour and I think it is kind of sweet. It's lacking the kick.  It's far from spicy, especially when you compare it with the Tom Yum flavor. It's not a really bad flavor; I'd eat it if someone serve me this, but if I have a choice, I won't eat it.

My verdict: I'd rather eat Shin Ramyun.

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Instant Noodles Around the World 7 - MAMA

This time, it's from Thailand. When I was in high school, my Thai friend told me of this brand. My first MAMA instant noodle was Tom Yum Flavour (the clear soup version, not the creamy one). The flavor was absolutely wonderful, and the spices kicks you in. I could even say that I like the tom yum soup from MAMA much better than in those in Thai restaurants. The less authentic ones, of course. 

I decided to try the Shrimp Creamy TOM YUM Flavour this time. The packaging is only slightly different from the non-creamy tom yum: the non-creamy one has this purplish, metallic packaging while this one has orange, metallic packaging. You can't really tell any difference once you opened the package:

The same thin, slightly brown noodle. The noodle is actually very crispy and you can actually eat it as uncooked. It's weird to say that the noodle is uncooked, because in reality all instant noodles have been either fried or oven-dried, so they are technically cooked. Well, let's just say that the noodle has not been boiled according to the preparation steps :)

The powdered seasoning has dried cream / coconut milk powder. I was a little skeptical about the end product because a lot of times powdered cream soup doesn't give you the right consistency: you can sometimes see floating cream particles that do not dissolve into the soup, and they normally give you this unpleasant grittiness in your mouth. I thought the cream would be in the oil-based seasoning, but I guess not.

Judging from the packaging, this MAMA instant noodle must be an export-quality product. The main language of instruction is still English, though.

It turned out much better than I expected. The cream didn't dissolve very well, but it didn't give grittiness. The only warnings I have for preparing this noodle is the fact that the noodle gets soft really easily (maybe because it's thin?). You can even prepare this noodle by pouring boiling water into a bowl of unprepared instant noodle and it will be ready to eat in about 3-5 minutes. It's the perfect instant noodle for people who are too lazy to wash the pan. I don't mind washing dishes, but I have certain moments when I just don't feel like doing so. For example, in the morning.

The portion size is also a bit small compared to other instant noodles, so it is most likely not enough for people with big appetite. But the good news is that when you want to eat something rather light and refreshing, MAMA instant noodle is a good choice. I'm not too sure about the caloric content because it's somehow not stated in the packaging (yet it's an export-quality product - maybe I missed it).

My verdict: I LOVE IT!

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