Nong Shim Bowl Noodle Soup Spicy Chicken Flavor

Made by:  Nong Shim America Inc.
Tools Required:  Hot Water, Spoon & Chopsticks
Light Meal Size (400 calories per package)
Rating:  :D

(available online through Amazon.com)

One thing that is good about loving instant ramen is that when I need some comfort food, it's very economical.  I am ready for some noodles today, and I've picked this Bowl Noodle to try; it's a Spicy Chicken flavor from Nong Shim of America.  After the last review, I decided to take a look through the ingredients list beforehand, and interestingly, although this is supposed to be a chicken flavor, the ingredients include beef and beef fat, but not chicken.  Odd.  Hopefully having seen that won't color my opinion of the flavor--maybe I should stop looking at the ingredients before tasting after all.

Peeling back the lid, we see that there are noodles and some dried veggies loose in the bowl, and one seasoning packet to open.  All we have to do is add the powder, add hot water to the well-defined fill line, and wait three minutes.  After a quick stir, we arrive at the meal pictured!

The noodle texture is pretty average; there isn't anything to complain about and they are nicely firm, but nothing really remarkable either.  There are green onion and red pepper flakes, along with some textured soy bits (fake chicken) and a few shaped flat things that very much seem to be chicken flavored surimi {'imitation crab'}.  Those are a bit odd, but more in a "scratch your head" way than a negative one.  The broth has a very nice flavor; it is pleasantly spicy although the actual heat level seems a bit tame.  It almost seems more like a mexican spice flavor to me, reminiscent of a chicken enchilada or similar.  I will admit my opinion might be colored slightly by the Corona with lime that I paired with it, but I have to write my opinions as they come.  (My sweetie told me that beer goes well with spicy things, so I was testing the theory.)

Overlooking the technical weirdness (A chicken flavor noodle that has beef and fish but no chicken in it?  Really?) these were a very pleasant bowl of noodles with an interesting, unique flavor.  I'm happy. :D