Indomie Onion Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles

Made By:  Indofood [Indonesia]
Required to Prepare:  400ml water, saucepan & range
340 calories per serving

For today's lunch, I'm reviewing an Onion Chicken flavour ramen soup from Indomie, who is probably better known for their Mi Goreng line of non-soup noodles but who also produces a decent variety of instant noodle soups--this one sounds like it should be a nice, mild, savory flavor.  On with the review!

Inside the packet we find a block of golden ramen-style noodles, along with a pack of seasoning oil and a foil double-pack containing soup base on one side and a decent portion of chili powder on the other.  To prepare, we boil our 400ml (or 1-3/4 cups) of water, and add the noodles and cook for three minutes.  Meanwhile, we are supposed to go ahead and put the contents of the flavoring packets into our bowl, and stir them up into a paste.  When I open the soup base, I notice a celery-like aroma, and the seasoning oil has a scent not unlike french-fried onions.  Anyway, once the noodles are cooked, we pour them over our seasoning paste, stir things up, and serve!

The flavor of the broth is a bit less oniony than I had expected; it seems very much like a western-style chicken broth.  The noodles have a decent texture, and interestingly, while eating the noodles I do notice a taste of the fried-onion flavor from the seasoning oil--the noodles must be picking up the oil as I lift them out of the broth, and it gave them a certain complexity that I appreciated and enjoyed.  I didn't notice a lot of spice while I was eating, but once the bowl was finished I did seem to have a small chili-heat afterglow going on.

While overall I'm not sure the flavor of these is that much different than just a plain domestic-brand chicken flavored ramen, the price is really not that much different either, and for the difference I appreciated the extra complexity and intensity of flavor that these had.  Even though they're basically "just" a chicken flavor, for some reason I'm looking forward to having them again.  :)

Indomie Soto Mie Flavour Instant Noodles

Made By:  Indofood
Tools Required:  Saucepan & Range, Bowl & Utensils
380 calories per package

(available online through Amazon.com)

Today's noodle is from Indomie; they are better known for their "Mi Goreng" line of brothless noodle products, but this one is a noodle soup.  When I picked this one up, I wasn't actually familiar with what a "Soto Mie" actually is, but a quick Google search reveals that it is a type of traditional Indonesian noodle soup.

The package includes a block of fairly standard-looking ramen, a packet of seasoning oil, and a foil double-packet with powdered soup base on one side and chili powder separately in the other.  We boil 400 ml (or roughly 1-3/4 cups) of water and simmer the noodles for three minutes; meanwhile, we are supposed to mix the seasoning oil and powders into a paste in our bowl.  I still don't completely get the point of pre-mixing the seasonings for a soup product, honestly, I suspect those directions are left over from the Mi Goreng products, but for the sake of science I follow the directions faithfully.  We add the cooked noodles and water into the bowl, and I am treated to a nice curry-like aroma.  I have a good feeling about these!

The noodles themselves are pretty average, a little firmer but also a little stickier than normal; they aren't off-putting, but they aren't the selling point.  The broth has a very nice flavor; with the full chili packet added, it is just spicy enough to be interesting, and there is a nicely sweet, citrussy curry flavor.  I think I actually prefer the flavor of this one to the Chicken Curry flavor; the flavor of this one is actually much more reminiscent of what I think of as curry.  With the fairly mild spice level, it sort of feels like a comfort food to me.  I wish the noodles had a more appealing texture, but otherwise this one was very enjoyable!  :)

Indomie Mi Goreng BBQ Chicken

Made by:  Indofood (Indonesia)
Tools Required:  Saucepan & Range, Strainer, Bowl or Plate, Chopsticks
Meal Size (460 calories per package)
Rating:  :)

(Available online at Amazon.com)

Today I am going to break the streak of grocery-store ramen reviews and have an imported noodle for lunch.  (I really need to get back to an Asian grocery soon...)  This BBQ Chicken flavor Mi Goreng sounds interesting--I'm having trouble imagining what barbecue flavored noodles will taste like.  Well, there's one way to find out!

The starburst on the front of the package advertises the fact that there are lots of seasoning sachets included inside the package, and it is true--there are five total.  We have a clear triple-packet that has seasoning oil, chili sauce, and sweet soy sauce, and then a foil double-packet with the powdered seasoning and some fried onions for garnish.  And, of course, a fairly average-looking block of instant ramen-style noodles.  The directions tell us to boil the noodles in 400ml of water for three minutes--although, honestly, there is no real need to measure since we are going to drain the noodles anyway.  Meanwhile, we stir all the flavorings besides the onions together into a paste in the bottom of our bowl.  When the noodles are done, we drain them in our strainer and dump them in the bowl, toss with the seasoning paste, and then top with the fried onion bits.  Just like that, we are ready to eat!

I'll just get right to the point and say that I like this one.  The noodles are a nice texture, and they have a really nice flavor.  It isn't like a western-style barbecue flavor, not that I expected it to be; it's more like what Asian restaurants refer to as Korean BBQ, or maybe along the lines of a General Tso flavor.  It's pleasantly spicy, and the sweetness is about the perfect level to contrast the spice without feeling syrupy.  The little extra 'crunch' that the onion garnish provides is a nice touch too.  Like the other Mi Goreng I reviewed, this seems like it could have a lot of possibilities as a base for added ingredients, but this one is perfectly capable of standing on its own as well.  I'm looking forward to getting more of these! :)

Indomie Chicken Curry Flavour Instant Noodles

Made by:  Indofood (Indonesia)
Tools Required:  Saucepan & Range (or Microwave), Bowl, Spoon & Chopsticks
Meal Size (420 calories per package)
Price:  unknown (received as gift)
Rating:  :D

Next up is the Indomie Chicken Curry Flavor ramen I got as a gift from my partner's sister.  It got a recommendation from my only comment so far (on the Sneak Preview post), and it was also the one my sweetie suggested for me today.  So, let's jump right in!

The package calls for 400mL of water, which is around 1-3/4 cups, and uses the standard three-minute stovetop directions.  Microwave directions are also available (five minutes on high), but I am sticking with the tried-and-true saucepan method.  Also included in the pack are three seasoning sachets:  a silver double-packet with "Bumbu Sauce" and "Chili" in it, and a small clear packet with "Minyak Bumbu/Seasoning Oil."  Thankfully, unlike the Mi Goreng Satay, this version of the Minyak Bumbu bears no resemblance whatsoever to peanut butter.  Like the Mi Goreng, however, Indomie wants me to stir the powder and oil together into a paste before I pour in the noodles and water.  I'm not really sure how that ends up being different than dumping them into the water like usual, but I do what I'm told.

The prepared ramen has a somewhat sweet and tangy aroma--it really does smell like a Thai-style chicken curry!  The taste of the broth is much more savory, though; there is just the faintest hint of that sweet-spicy-sour flavor.  I added the entire chili-powder packet and they were only mildly spicy, so nothing really to worry about there. The noodles are a nice firm texture, which is fairly common for imported Asian brands... I won't go as far as to say they are higher quality than the American brands, maybe most Americans have a preference for mushy noodles and that is why the difference, but I do prefer the firmer variety.

Anyway, the final word on these:  I would have a hard time saying they actually taste like chicken curry (although they definitely have the aroma down).  I would easily say that they are an above-average bowl of ramen, though.  This one gets a happy face. :D

Indomie Mi Goreng Satay

Made by:  Indofood (Indonesia)
Tools Required:  Saucepan & Range, Strainer, Bowl or Plate, Chopsticks
Light Meal Size (380 calories per package)
Price:  49¢ (at Uwajimaya in Bellevue)
Rating:  :\

Here is something more exciting!  Mi goreng is a popular Indonesian stir-fried noodle dish, and this is the instant version.  "Satay" are those marinated skewered meat things that are popular in Thai restaurants (as well as in Thailand and Indonesia).  Sounds like a winning combination!

This one comes with five packets of seasoning!  There is a silver double-packet that has powdered "Bumbu Sauce" and "Cabe/Chili," and a clear triple-packet that has liquid "Minyak Bumbu/Seasoning Oil" and "Kecap/Soya Sauce" as well as dried "Bawang Goreng/Fried Onion."  In the package I had, the 'seasoning oil' looked a bit separated, so I found it helpful to massage the packet to stir it up before cutting it open, so it would squeeze out easier.

The noodles cook by the standard stovetop method:  boil water, add noodles for three minutes.  While the noodles are in the water, we are supposed to open the two liquid and two powdered packets and stir them together into a paste.  (The instructions say to use a plate, but I do love my pink butterfly bowls.)  At the end of the three minutes, the noodles get drained and then added to the bowl, and we toss them with the sauce until everything looks more-or-less the same color.  Right before serving, we sprinkle the tiny portion of fried onion on top as a garnish, and it is time to eat!

The noodles have a nice texture, firm but not sticky.  The flavor is mildly sweet, moderately spicy, and very peanutty.  I thought the "seasoning oil" looked suspiciously like peanut butter!  It actually tastes much more like the peanut sauce that comes with satay than the satay itself; I have to say, that is really not what I was expecting at all.  On the plus side, they did complement my Acai Green tea nicely.  I think these have some promise if I were to dress them up with extra ingredients, but standing on their own they get a rating of "disappointed smiley."