Instant Noodles and Me

Instant noodles and me go way back. When I was a kid in school, I used to cook Maggi Chicken noodles and a drumstick and an egg for lunch. It was the cheapest lunch I could get at an allowance of RM2 per day. I couldn't get enough food for that kind of money in my school canteen. So most days, I cooked the same thing and eat, and instant noodle was one of them. ( I also ate fried potatoes, egg and cheese etc). I didn't have the healthiest childhood nor the most caring parents in the world, but I survived. So when someone tells me that instant noodles are bad for you, I totally ignore them. Without instant noodle, I would have no decent meal growing up.

 

After moving to Singapore, life haven't changed much except now the instant noodles I cooked are much more nutritious with proteins and vegetables.  And recently, there was this Penang White Curry Mee craze which made the curious me try it out eventually. I wasn't a fan of white curry mee in Penang, but I was curious to try this one since the review was good. It was suppose to be spicy, but I didn't find it so. Traditional curry noodles are cooked with cockles, prawns, chicken breast, pig's blood gelatin, and tao pok. I cooked mine with a variation of those. It didn't taste too bad either. But soon, the craze just died down and I stop eating it.

The next craze was Kyushu White cup noodles from Nissin. I have this misconception that Nissin or any Japanese brand makes healthier food since Japanese live longer on average. I used to be hooked on the Nissin Laksa cup noodle when I was studying, being introduced to it by my Indonesian room mate. Anyway, the above cup noodle can be bought at SGD 1.15 on a good promotion from Giant. I sometimes drop a hard boil egg into it to make it a  meal. The top right shows some bacon being thrown into it. It's nice, but kinda salty, so you can't really eat it that often.

The latest craze now in Singapore is the Korean fire noodle. My colleagues introduce me to it, and gave me a pack to try. It also comes in cup noodle version at around SGD2.60 to SGD2.90 per bowl. The pack is around SGD6.80 or so for 5. And this is super spicy! As in your everything would just burn! So be warn and go easy on the seasoning if you are trying it for the first time. You can adjust accordingly if you're cooking it at home.

The first time I had it was in a Korean restaurant, and it cost SGD7 or so, and I ordered half spicy. It was manageable and taste really addictive. I tried cooking it at home, and slowly adjust the seasoning up to one full pack. It taste nicer if you make it drier, and if you add mushroom to it, and dry it before serving, it is so much more fragrant. My favorite part is serving it with an egg with a raw yolk. I would leave the yolk to the very last, enduring the crazy spiciness till the very last mouthful. After which, I would pop the raw yolk into my mouth, and the oozing of the yolk covering your burned tongue is one of the nicest most satisfactory experience in life :P 

Ref:
Maggi Chicken Noodles
Penang White Curry Mee 
Nissin Kyushu White
Korean Spicy Fire Noodles