Japanese Noodle Bowl: Oyishi!

My girlfriend just returned from a holiday trip to Tokyo/Osaka recently (Thank god she left before the flu outbreak), and I told her I don't really want souvenirs, but if possible, I want their cup noodles from convenience stores! I had been in Tokyo myself and was amazed by their instant noodles, tasted even better than some of the restaurant stuffs you find here!



The first one opened up to reveal 3 packets, basiaclly a powder satchet, dried condiments and a soup sauce, as well as a piece of air-blown noodles. Nothing fasicinating really, but if you have noticed, the condiments packet had a piece of air-dried meat that will later become a tasty slice of bacon! Why can't we have bak in our lor mee cup noodles?! Or maybe fish cake for instant laksa?!



After a few minutes in boiling water, its time to tuck in! The soup was not that special, with shoyu flavour which isn't too hard to achieve, while the bacon was an interesting addition. Its the noodles that was really special, flat and slightly yellow, it was springy and smooth in texture, none of the usual rubbery stuff you get!



This was another bowl eaten on a seperate occasion. The first thought that came to my thought was how come it weighs so much heavier? I opened and realised..



Instead of a dried wafer, the noodles is actually vaccumed sealed and in a moisturised form. And of course, the standard little packets that made up the rest of the bowl.



The end result was satisfying! Round yellowish noodles that were firm and chewy, it would be exaggerating to say its as good as a fresh bowl of ramen from specialised shops like Santouka, but really, you wouldn't feel that you are having a instant meal, more like the frozen packs you buy from Japanese supermarkets and using even less effort to cook! And I can't stop harping on the dried meat which tried to replicate an slice Char Siew. Not very convincing, but good try!

Again, I feel that it would be unfair to compare soups that had been simmered for hours to those in concentrated powder form, but the quality of noodles are simply good enough to be sold on the streets, a far cry from what our cup noodles could offer. If only our instant mee pok could really taste like one!