#844: Maggi 2 Minute Noodles Perencah Asam Laksa

Spent some time hanging out with my friend Matt B. the other day and we went to HT Oaktree Market on 100th & Aurora in Seattle and found this new one. But what is Asam Laksa? Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

Asam laksa is a sour, fish-based soup. It is listed at number 7 on World’s 50 most delicious foods complied by CNN Go in 2011.^[5] Asam (or asam jawa) is the Malay word for tamarind, which is commonly used to give the stock its sour flavor. It is also common to use asam keping (also known as asam gelugor), dried slices of sour mangosteen, for added sourness. The modern Malay spelling is asam, though the spelling assam is still frequently used.

The main ingredients for asam laksa include shredded fish, normally kembung fish or mackerel, and finely sliced vegetables including cucumber, onions, red chillies, pineapple, lettuce, common mint, “daun kesum” (Vietnamese mint or laksa mint) and pink bunga kantan (ginger buds). Asam laksa is normally served with either thick rice noodles or thin rice noodles (vermicelli). And topped off with “petis udang” or “hae ko” (蝦羔), a thick sweet prawn/shrimp paste.

Was about to drop some beef or chicken in there but I think that wouldn’t make much sense here. Sounds neat! From Malaysia! Let’s hit it up.

Here’s the back. So I’m going to go with 2 cups of boiling water and drop in the noodles and seasoning for 2 minutes.

A very light colored noodle block – almost white.

One seasoning packet.

Here’s the stuff of flavor.

Found these things at HT Oaktree Market too – they were in the Indonesian section and looked interesting. Upon bringing them home, I tried them and found they were horrid. Today I looked at the bag and you have to fry them. IT’S CRAZY!!! You drop some of them into some hot oil and fry them – they expand – really quickly too – and turn into these crunchy shrimp flavored chip-like things. Thought I’d add some.

Finished. Added onion, Fresno chili pepper, lettuce, some Komodo Shrimp Chips, a scrambled egg with Krazy Mixed Up Salt and Dua Belibis Chili sauce. The noodles aren’t shabby – nothing to write home about but decent. The broth is great – it is indeed sour, spicy and has a hit of seafood taste. If you squirted a ton of lemon juice in, it’d be a lot like Tom Yum. I really liked it – 4.0 out of 5.0 stars! UPC bar code 9556001128850 – get it here.

A Maggi Laksa commercial

Singapore documentary

#715 Indomie Mi Goreng Rendang (Indonesian Import)

I couldn’t wait for Meet The Manufacturer: Indomie week to try this. It’s a nice day here in the low 70’s and this said ‘eat me,’ so I will. This was one of the ones sent to me by Susienta S. of Indofoods CBR in Jakarta, Indonesia! Thanks again – and let’s give this one a try! Hey wait a minute – maybe we should research this a little first. So. what I’ve heard is that Rendang is a spicy beef curry. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Rendang:

Rendang is a spicy meat dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia,^[1] and is now commonly served across the country.^[2] One of the characteristic foods of Minangkabau culture, it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honour guests.^[3] Also popular in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand, rendang is traditionally prepared by the Indonesian community during festive occasions. Culinary expert often describe rendang as: ‘West Sumatra caramelized beef curry’.^[4] Though rendang^[5] is sometimes described as being like a curry, and the name is sometimes applied to curried meat dishes in Malaysia, authentic rendang is nothing like a curry.^[1] In 2011 an online poll by 35,000 people held by CNN International chose Rendang as the number one dish of their ‘World’s 50 Most Delicious Foods’ list.^[6]

Here’s the linkto the whole Wikipedia entry. I think I should also mention something some Indonesian folks have mentioned in comments on here. They have something they call

InTerNet (Indomie Telur Kornet). Here’s a link to make it – I think you’ll agree it sounds good!

Here’s the back of the packaging. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Indonesian instant noodles, a lot of them are prepared differently – like this one. It pays to read the instructions on every pack of instant noodles you try – especially if they’re from different cultures! Cooking this up like a soup could be disastrous!

Here’s the noodle block!

Here’s the dual packet of dry seasonings. The ‘bumbu’ on the left is the dry base and the ‘cabe’ on the right is chili powder. I would love to know – does that little guy on the chili label have a name? Anyone know anything about him? Please post a comment!

Here’s the powdered seasoning.

This chili powder is pretty serious stuff!

Now we have our wet ingredients. Seasoned oil on the left and sweet soy sauce on the right.

Seasoned oil.

Sweet soy sauce.

Finished. Okay so I took some artistic liberties on this one. Added a little roast beef and stir-fry vegetables while boiling the noodles. I used a star-shaped cookie cutter and fried two eggs using it.  Fried a piece of roast beef and laid it on top. Added a little lettuce. Added some Huy Fong Sriracha hot sauce, Krazy Mixed Up Salt and fried shallots on the eggs. I also dropped some kizami shoga (pickled ginger) in the mix. Wow – this is great stuff! The noodles are chewy enough without being too chewy. The flavor is excellent – like a hot curry beef taste that works so well. I love it. This is one of those times when being the Ramen Rater is the best thing in the world. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars!  I highly recommend this one! UPC bar code 089686910704 – get the USA version here!

Indomie Mi Goreng Rendang commercial from Indonesia!

I’ll be reviewing these as well sooner or later!