#860: Baijia Artificial Pickled Cabbage Fish Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Thread

In the past reviews of Baijia products, I haven’t been really stoked. I have been told by those keen on Sichuan cuisine that this is good stuff, but I think I’m not one of those who are keen on Sichuan cuisine. Regardless, I shall try this with an open mind. Let’s have a go at this one.

Here’s the back of the package – click to enlarge.

The sweet potato thread.

The powder seasoning.

Interesting.

Liquid base.

These usually look gross but are very good.

The veggie packet.

Lots of these little bean-like bits.

Finished. The noodles soaked up most of the liquid and really I must say there is a huge amount of them. The noodles are a little hard to eat; maybe using scissors to cut them before the meal would be helpful as in the way naengmyon is served in Korea. The noodles are thin and don’t separate very well. They aren’t slimy but have a gelatinous texture. They are easily broken by pursing the lips. The broth (what was left after the engorging by the noodles) was interesting,. First, very spicy and has a black pepper taste. Also has an almost vinegary acidity that almost acts like a component of the spiciness. The veggies are disappointing as they don’t really re-hydrate as one would expect. I must say this is a lot better than I expected, but I still definitely cannot eat the the whole thing by any stretch of the imagination. It’s very salty and very heavy. I would say that one of these packs could easily feed two people – kind of has that ‘stick to your ribsy’ kind of way to it like rice and beans in its fillingness. So far, probably the best Baijia I’ve had. 2.75 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 6926410321396 – get it here.

Chinese Tom & Jerry

7 year old Michael Jackson impersonator

#634: Baijia Sichuan Hot Pot Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Thread

This one was sent by Michelle L. of New York! Unfortunately, for this one I have exceedingly low expectations. Every Baijia product I’ve tried has been just plain gross in my opinion.

The side panels.

Hey – a fork!

Thick liquid seasoning starting on left, powder seasoning in the middle and finally beans on the right.

Otis Pug and Daisy Pug are out cold…

So they cannot be held responsible for that vile looking thing.

Finished. While this was pretty horrible, it wasn’t as horrible as I expected. First, the noodles were not too bad themselves; they weren’t as clumpy as usual. The broth was all but gone and the bean things were as funky and odd as always. The problem as with all of the Baijia products I’ve tried thus far was the flavor. First, it’s spicy – nothing wrong with that, but it’s like a ridiculously strong black pepper kind of spicy. Also, it’s very salty  too. All in all, I felt a little funky after eating a couple of bites – I deem this non-palatable. 0.5 out of 5.0 stars. UPC barcode 6926410321341 – get the pack version here.

That’s more like it!

Yeah that’s a lot of saice!

#579: Baijia Sichuan Pickled Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Thread

Baijia has been a brand I loathe thus far. Let’s see what we have in this one.

Two packets – liquid base on left and powdered base on right.

Here’s the backside.

I can’t read Chinese, but from what I got, you put everything in a bowl, add boiling water and cover for 5-6 minutes. So that’s what I did.

Finished. The noodles are very weird; they’re thin and hard to eat to be honest. I think this is standard for sweet potato thread. The broth? Greasy. The flavor? Probably the best s far for a Baijia product that I’ve tried. Still in all, not anything enjoyable in my book. At least it’s slightly spicy. 1.75 out of 5.0 stars.

What I found when I looked up Sweet Potato on Youtube – a full length movie called ‘Sweet Potato!’

#455: Baijia Single Noble Pickled Radish And Duck Flavor Instant Sweet Potato Noodle ( Cup )

Baijia. Probably the single brand with the lowest consecutive ratings I’ve given. But lo and behold, I continue reviewing them – I believe that at some point there will be something awesome from them! Perhaps this pickled radish and duck flavored sweet potato noodle cup will be the holy grail? We shall see…

The first thing I noticed is that the Baijia logo is a sticker. Notice at the lower left – that little white square? Another sticker. These are covering up something, but I am not sure – probably domestic markings not meant to be seen in export. Definitely noteworthy though.

So I peel off the stickers – re-branding with a new logo. Okay let’s move on.

Hey sweet – a new fork! There’s a new fork review for it here in my ongoing review of included forks. From left to right we’ve got some odd looking vegetables, a powdered dry seasoning packet and then some seasoned oil/paste stuff.

So even though it’s a cup, they put the directions for a packaged noodle on the side. Okay whatever. Just put this to let ya know I did read these directions. I’ve had a couple of comments on how I just don’t get it with this Baijia stuff. I think I get it – not really rocket science here.

So this is what sweet potato noodles look like – pretty weird huh? The powdered seasoning was almost like a kind of cheese. Anyways, I added boiling water to the line and covered it for 6 minutes.

Whoa. Gaze upon it. I don’t know what the beans are but they’re kind of weird. The noodles are very mushy and clumpy and greasy. It is a tangled mushy noodle mess. As far as the taste goes, it’s not bad – kind of salty and has some kind of flavor I can’t pinpoint. The veggie bits remind me of the Unif Sauerkraut flavor bowl I had a while back. As far as a rating… I can’t say that I like it, however I find it kind of fascinating that a product like this would be constructed and then sold. Somebody out there really likes it. Unfortunately, my American palate is a little challenged and I can’t give it my blessing. 0.25 out of 5.0 stars – really inedible and not worthy of being called a food.

Eat the noodles…

And dig those bubbles!