I went through the instant noodle phase when I was in college. Nissin, I think, was the first brand of instant noodles sold locally and I was so smitten with the idea of being able to have a bowl of mami within minutes. But the phase passed. After a while, I lamented the lack of texture and color. I do prefer my bowl of noodles to have generous amounts of meat and vegetables. And I like the little extras that make a world of difference — the crisp garlic bits, the fried onion slices, the fresh herbs…
When the girls were younger, I discouraged instant noodles in the house. Well, I discouraged anything instant, period. Today, however, with Sam and Alex living away from us five days a week, they find instant noodles among the most convenient food items for condo living. They’re available in all 7-11 and Ministop stores, they’re generally inexpensive, they’re uncomplicated to prepare, they can be cooked in the microwave and you only need one bowl to do the job. When we do our grocery shopping for the house and the girls tag along, they buy their instant noodle supply so that the cost is passed on to us. Smart, eh? So, you get the picture when I say that we’ve bought a lot of instant noodles — local, Korean, Japanese and Thai, plain and fancy, very cheap and not so cheap.
So, we know very well that instant noodles are not created equal. We liked some and swore off others. But how we liked and disliked each one were more of subjective judgments. We never really documented how the texture of the noodles differ, how the powdered broth of some taste better than others, how some almost mimic freshly made noodle soup while others taste totally artificial.
We took two of the most popular instant noodle brands, Lucky Me and Payless, to start documenting those differences. We chose the same flavor, beef bulalo, to make things as equal as possible. The two packs were cooked per package directions and here are our observations.
Price? Lucky Me: PHP13.75. Payless: PHP6.10.
Net weight? Lucky Me: 65 grams. Payless: 55 grams.
Package contents?
Lucky Me: noodles, powdered broth packet, oil packet and dehydrated meat and greens packet.
Payless: noodles, powdered broth packet and oil packet.
The instructions on the pack of Lucky Me said put the noodles in a bowl, pour in two cups of boiling water…
…cover and leave for three minutes.
Meanwhile, the instructions on the pack of Payless noodles said cook the noodles in about two cups of boiling water on the stove top for three minutes.
After three minutes of soaking in hot water, I added the contents of the broth, oil and dehydrated meat packets to the bowl of Lucky Me noodles.
I poured the Payless noodles with the cooking liquid into a bowl and stirred in the contents of the broth and oil packets.
Side by side, that was how they looked — Lucky Me on the left; Payless on the right. There is a ten-gram difference in the net weight of the two packages and that became really obvious after the noodles were cooked.
Speedy liked the texture of the Lucky Me noodles better. I liked the texture of the Payless noodles better — they were plumper, slippery, a bit chewy and reminiscent of ramen.
We both preferred the taste of the Lucky Me broth — it had beef undertones and the overall sensation was subtle rather than overwhelming. The Payless broth was rather strong and all I could think of was MSG.
Did the dehydrated meat make all that difference? Not to me. In fact, because we’ve had pet rabbits in the past, the little round bits of brown bothered me. Don’t ask me to elaborate here. If you’ve never observed rabbits, just ask someone who has.
Having tested both noodles and broth, I added slices of pork and blanched pechay to both bowls of noodles. Just because we were eating instant noodles didn’t mean we couldn’t have them with real meat and veggies.
Loading ... Loading ...
we’re loyal Lucky Me customers. Hahaha!
That was what we used to buy too until Sharon Cuneta started endorsing it. And we liked Nissin better hehehehehe
Lucky Me for us eversince they came out with those instant pancit canton hahaha!:) Recently though, we got tired and my bro requested to try a different brand. I looked for Maggi but I don’t think they produce it anymore
Payless came second because I liked the “bland” tone to it, maalat ang Lucky Me eh hehehe! One thing though, in Malaysia and Singapore their instant noodles are really BLAND to a Filipina taste 
I missed the “MSG” in our instant noodles when we went touring there hehehe! Kinda expecting it to be like ours. We did not try those spicy ones though maybe it would have made a difference.
i go for Lucky Me, too. but am curious, what happened when Sharon Cuneta started endorsing Lucky Me
Oh, I have this mindset that if you need a celebrity to endorse your product instead of relying on its intrinsic value, then, you have a bad product.
Mega talent fee means higher retail price OR same retail price but lower quality. You know, to offset the cost of the celebrity endorsement.
How much money does she need?
Ah yes, the humble instant noodles, the salvation of many millions of uni students worldwide Mrs Connie! Over here in Australia the most popular brand is called Indomie Mi Goreng for true instant noodle aficionados I believe. Just delicious!
“the salvation of many millions of uni students worldwide ”
hahahaha My daughters will agree a hundred per cent!
Oooh I remember Maggi Chicken Arroz Caldo, that was what saved me when still in school, I usually had it for breakfast, fast, filling and yum. Too bad it’s not available anymore. Sana bumalik siya, I miss it.
I have a pet rabbit, Beki. Haha I know what you mean.
HAHAHAHA At last, someone who understands that part.
We consider instant noodles as a pantry basic but we seldom eat it as is. Throwing in some cut or grated veggies, siomai or squid balls, hard boiled egg or even just a raw egg transforms it into a really satisfying starter or even a complete meal. I also find these noodles very good for a quick stirfry.
Years ago, someone forwarded to me an email warning about the health risks of cooking these Instant Noodles according to package instructions: by putting the noodles into a pot with water, throwing in the powder and let it cook for 3 mins. The email was accompanied by instructions of how to “correctly” cook the instant noodles: cook the noodles in a pot, drain and throw away the water where you boiled the noodles then to cook the seasonings/flavorings in another pot of boiling water.
I blindly followed this “correct” way of cooking the instant noodles even though it entailed additional steps without giving it much thought until you posted this review. I couldn’t retrieve the original email for reference so instead I made a search and found a site that claims and confirms the email from way back.
Here is the link:
http://www.health2know.com/instant-noodles/
But to be fair, I again made a search to confirm if this was true and a few links came up. Here are two very interesting websites that somehow have very good explainsations. Here are the links:
http://www.mondenissin.com/main.php/products/lucky_me/truth_myth
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/noodles.asp
Really interesting!
It just confirms that one should really do a thorough research before believing something on the internet.
I like Lucky Me, when I go to Asian stores ay Lucky Me ang hanap ko. But here in the States, I go for Nissin brand (vs other imported brands like Maruchan).
I go for lucky me because sharon CUNETA endorsed it.
LOL