Australian supermarket instant chicken noodle taste test: the best tastes ‘legit cooked’ | Australian food and drink

Once I shut my eyes and consider instantaneous noodles, I’m introduced again to afternoon tea at my grandparents’ public housing flat. I think about my yeye (grandfather) pouring the natural pork bone broth my grandmother had made the earlier night time into the noodle-packed styrofoam cup. It was the last word consolation meals.However for this style take a look at consolation wasn’t the tip purpose. As a substitute I gathered 21 manufacturers of instantaneous hen noodles that might fulfill hungry workplace employees on a deadline. The standards: it wanted to be a sizzling lunch you may make with solely boiling water – and it wanted to be fast.Hungry workplace employees in Guardian Australia’s Melbourne newsroom. {Photograph}: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/The GuardianI served my colleagues a tasting menu of instantaneous noodles at their desks. I solely included cup noodles that had been hen flavoured (sorry, Indomie Mi Goreng, you’ll at all times have a spot in my coronary heart) and tasters had been requested to rank the noodles primarily based on aroma, texture and flavour.Testers pattern the noodles. {Photograph}: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/The GuardianInstant noodles are actually a clean canvas. It’s what you add to them that makes them a meal – some eggs, perhaps kimchi or recent veg, even precise shredded hen. My tasters had none of those add-ons, although a number of the packets got here with dehydrated herbs and greens.Total, we discovered {that a} scrumptious scent didn’t equate to a scrumptious feed, and that mushroom is a divisive flavour. Nothing on this listing was really disgusting nor was something a surprise for the style buds – all of the choices had been really mid.Noodles being scored on aroma, texture and flavour. {Photograph}: Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/The GuardianBest overallLian Pho Ga Vietnamese Model On the spot Rice Noodles, 70g, $2.80 ($3.57 per 100g), out there at main supermarketsScore: 7.6/10Rice noodles aren’t widespread in instantaneous cup noodles however even at a restaurant pho is often served pretty immediately so it stands to motive that it could translate nicely. Whereas the moment pho broth was virtually universally loved by the testers, the rice noodles had been generally too delicate, although some discovered them “eminently slurpable”. As the pictures on the packaging counsel, it could be immensely improved by the standard suspects which are served with pho: onion, herbs and lemon. With these additions, it could possibly be thought of “not from a cup” or “legit cooked”, in accordance with our tasters.Finest valueChoice Rooster Flavoured Noodle Cup, 70g, $1 ($1.41 per 100g), out there from AldiScore: 5.5/10“Fairly common run-of-the-mill noodle,” wrote one tester, summing this one up nicely, as did one other remark: “Like a Justin Bieber tune.” Some thought it was each “salty and bland”, although the sodium content material was close to the center of the bunch. For those who had solely a single gold coin for lunch, this wouldn’t be a tragic method to spend it.The restSuimin Rooster Noodle Cup, 70g, $2.40 ($3.43 per 100g), out there at main supermarketsScore: 7.2/10This product was given full marks by a taster who described it as “finger-licking good”. He wasn’t the one one to explain it that manner. The style and aroma made it appear as if you had been strolling by a KFC, although just a few commented they thought it smelled like beef. Tasters who scored this one extremely stated they appreciated its smoky fragrant notes.Samyang Buldak Sizzling Rooster Flavour Ramen Cup, 70g, $2.50 ($3.57 per 100g), out there at main supermarketsScore: 6.6/10Famous for being spicy, this was a “nostril and palate burner”, in accordance with reviewers. Total, we discovered the spicier cups had thicker, chewier noodles, which divided our tasters, however they had been all united within the burn left behind by the “fire-engine-red soup”.skip previous publication promotionSign as much as Saved for LaterCatch up on the enjoyable stuff with Guardian Australia’s tradition and life-style rundown of popular culture, traits and tipsPrivacy Discover: Newsletters might include information about charities, on-line adverts, and content material funded by outdoors events. For extra data see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after publication promotionNissin Rooster Noodle Cup, 73g, $2.80 ($3.43 per 100g), out there at main supermarketsScore: 6.3/10No listing about instantaneous noodles is full with out Nissin. Its founder, Momofuku Ando, a Taiwanese Japanese businessman, invented the primary fashionable instantaneous noodles in 1958. So how does the OG stack up? Testers commented on its aroma, which is available in sturdy with wafts of umami, however additionally they wrote that it was “lacking punch”. This product had most likely probably the most extras within the packet, together with corn and carrot however that didn’t enhance its rating.Kang Shi Fu Soup Noodle Mushroom Rooster Flavour, 104g, $1.99 ($1.91 per 100g), out there at choose grocersScore: 6/10Mushroom is just not a unifying flavour. Many discovered this one woody and earthy however whether or not these attributes had been seen as optimistic actually diverse. Contemplating there isn’t any hen on this product it’s unsurprising then that one particular person stated it “smells overwhelmingly like mushroom”.Yoodles Brown Rice Noodles Rooster Flavour, 70g, $2.30 ($3.29 per 100g), out there at WoolworthsScore: 5.7/10“Inoffensive” is how one taster described this gluten-free and vegan choice. It wasn’t notably liked by anybody, although one taster stated it was “like those mum used to make”. Like most rice noodles, these ones rehydrated shortly however, except they had been eaten simply as quick, they disintegrated into the soup.Ve Wong On the spot Noodle Rooster Sesame Flavour, 85g, $2.49 ($2.90 per 100g), out there at choose grocersScore: 5.6/10The scent of the sesame oil made me hungry as I used to be getting ready this one. It was one of many few that didn’t embody any dehydrated greens – not that any of our tasters seen. It had a beneficiant quantity of aromatic oil and Chinese language cooking wine, a divisive flavour amongst our tasters. One famous it “smells and tastes like real hen broth”, which made some suspicious, nevertheless it was the feel of the noodles – too skinny – that misplaced it marks from lots of them.Nongshim Shin Ramyun Spicy Rooster Bowl, 114g, $3.75 ($3.29 per 100g), out there at Woolworths and choose grocersScore: 5.5/10As spicy as it’s divisive, Nongshim’s cup is a staple in lots of pantries. Our bravest tasters stated it was “spicy however not debilitating”, noting that it tasted a bit just like the Mexican spice combine Tajin. One other stated the spice “blew my socks off”. Whereas the quintessential hen scent was there, not many may style it.Sunrice Yum Asian Model Rooster On the spot Noodles, 62g, $3 ($4.84 per 100g), out there at main supermarketsScore: 4.3/10The aroma of this cup obtained close to common approval nevertheless it fell over when it got here to the consuming. The noodles are gluten-free, vegetarian and natural, with one of many lowest sodium ranges of the listing, however their style and texture underwhelmed our testers. The flavour was a cross for many, with one tester reminded “oddly of cleaning soap and celery”. Whereas different rice noodles we examined rehydrated shortly in boiling water, these took longer and even then it was “like chewing pipe cleaners”, in accordance with one tester.Merchandise reduce for brevityUrban Eats Thai Model BBQ Rooster Noodle Bowl 6.4/10Maggi 2 Minute Noodles Rooster 6.1/10Fantastic Rooster Noodles Cup 6.1/10Yum Yum On the spot Noodles Rooster 6/10Coles I’m Free From Gluten Free Brown Rice Noodle Cups Rooster 5.8/10Nissin Chu Qian Yi Ding Rooster Bowl 5.5/10Coles Rooster On the spot Noodles 5.4/10Suimin Ok Pow Korean-Model Spicy Noodles Flaming Tacky Rooster 5.4/10Simplee On the spot Cup Rooster Noodles 5/10Paldo Dosirac On the spot Noodle Rooster Flavour 4.9/10Fantastic Noodles Cup Gluten Free Rooster 4.9/10