No-Soup Review: Nong Shim Savory Bowl Noodle Chicken Flavor

Original Review:  Nong Shim Savory Bowl Noodle Chicken Flavor

No-Soup Rating:  :)

Okay, I think I am starting to wish I hadn't stocked up on quite so many of these--I am still working on the first case of 18 from that buy-one-case-get-one-free deal at Costco.  So to try to mix things up some more, I'm going to be doing an experiment today!  I do like the Mi Goreng/Yakisoba/Chow Mein style 'brothless' noodles, and it seems like they are much the same product as 'normal' ramen except that you drain the noodles first.  Some brands (notably Maruchan's Yakisoba line) even use a powdered flavor base, and it seems to work okay.  Recently I started wondering, what would happen if I tried preparing a "regular" noodle product in similar fashion?  Well, today I am going to find out!

I prepare the noodles with the same hot-water prep method as the printed instructions (stand for three minutes), except I don't add the soup base yet.  Once the noodles are done, I drain them with a strainer and dump them back into the bowl, then stir in the seasoning.  The seasoning seemed to blend in quite easily--more easily than some products I've tried that are designed to be prepared this way.  Now for the moment of truth!

Oh, I kind of like these this way!  They are much more flavorful than the normal 'soup' version, which is probably to be expected since the flavoring is more concentrated.  On the negative side of that, they do seem a little overly salty, but not to the point of being totally off-putting.  I'd say it's about the same saltiness level of a Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup or so.  What I really like, though, is that the lack of broth seems to bring out the flavor of the included vegetables--the peas and corn give little bursts of sweetness here and there that make a nice contrast to the salty chicken flavor of the noodles.  I think I preferred this to the 'normal' preparation--I really enjoyed these!  I do wonder if they could be improved further by adding an egg, or even some extra veggies, that could help balance the salt a little more, but I would say the experiment was a success.  :)