Noodle Review: "sukiyaki"

As a token Asian growing up in the heart of French Canada, I've been subject to plenty of import convenience foods over the years. The old stand-by has always been "Doll" brand instant ramen - so ubiquitous is the brand that it's become a noun all its own to describe instant noodles. However, in more recent years, another brand produced by the famous Nissin company has taken the market by storm and my family has developed a taste for both their "regular flavour" and the "beef" flavour (both of which are actually powered by a tiny packet of who-knows-what chemical compound).

Feeling adventurous, I decided to sample some of their other flavours. Up tonight is the sukiyaki udon flavour. For those of you who don't know, sukiyaki is sort of like a Japanese equivalent to stew ...if stew were served in a soup noodle. Click this link for specifics.


...well, the packaging looks appetizing enough.

But when the hell will I learn that all instant noodle packs contain the same damn thing?

Okay, granted, this was actually a little surprising to me because this isn't ramen at all. Instead of the stringy vermicelli-like thin noodle, this is Nissin's version of "udon," a thicker noodle you're more likely to see in authentic Japanese cooking.

And this is what it looks like after the usual prep (ie: boiled for 5 minutes then mixing with the included flavour packets):


All told it was actually pretty good. Having grown up on ramen, udon is satisfyingly heavy by comparisson. The taste is... well, I couldn't really taste the soup-base. Instead, the package came with a "seasoning sauce" that totally overpowered whatever the soup was supposed to taste like. On the other hand, having read the article on sukiyaki, I realize that although I haven't ever had authentic sukiyaki, given the discription of the preperation, it did taste a bit like what I would imagine a mixture of soy-sauce, sugar, and cooking-wine might taste like. It had a bit of a tinny seafood-quality flavour as almost all Japanese foods do... I can't really describe it otherwise. I wouldn't eat this every night, but I'll probably buy a few more packages when I get the chance.

Tune in next time when I review the "miso" flavour instant noodle.