A change…

My girl has grown out of instant noodles, probably as a result of an overdose during her undergraduate days. It seems that she does not fancy the texture and the smell or taste of the noodles anymore.

She does not mind bihun (rice vermicelli) though but the problem is we can hardly find any instant ones around these days. At one time, the Taiwan Tung-i brand was very popular but I thought theirs was too peppery and rather strong on the msg. Even the made-in-Kuching Lee Fah instant Sarawak laksa comes with instant noodles these days – they started off with bihun and for some reason or other, they later switched to noodles as well which, I think, should not be the case as Sarawak laksa is always served with bihun, not noodles. Perhaps they can consider having two options for buyers to choose from. As it is, many would buy and use their own and keep the noodles for something else.

Well, it so happened that I spotted this at the supermarket the other day…

…and of course, I wasted no time in grabbing a pack to try. If it turned out nice, that would be something my girl could stock in her quarters at her school to cook and eat for a change as and when necessary.

Inside each packet, there would be the bihun together with three sachets…

…one with the curry paste or whatever, another with the seasoning and the third with the so-called non-dairy creamer which I guess, would be the coconut milk powder.

As what I would always do when cooking instant noodles, I boiled the bihun first, drained it well and put it aside. Then, I boiled some water, cooked the meatballs and seafood cake slices – the added ingredients that I had to go with it. I fished them out of the boiling water and then, added the contents of the sachets. Once done, I poured the gravy over the bihun, arranged the extras on top, garnished with chopped spring onions and daun sup and served…

Oh yes! That morning, I also cooked one hard-boiled egg…

…and I was delighted that it turned out quite perfect, just the way I would like it.

If you noticed, I used “gravy” instead of “soup” because it turned out kind of thick, something a little like what one would find in lor mee, though not as thick but it was definitely not the usual very watery kind of soup.

I tried it and yes, I must say that it was really very nice. No, I could not detect its seribu rasa (a thousand tastes) but it was indeed very tasty, spicy…and not really lemak (rich) which may put off some people after eating a bit, like in the case of those instant white curry noodles…and yes, considering that I did enjoy it, I certainly would have no second thoughts about getting some for my girl…