5ive Energy Noodles - Food of champions?

For the longest time that I can recall, I would only purchase instant noodles economy packs without the seasoning eg. VITS (!). Seldom would you find Maggi, Indomie, Nissin, Mamee, Mama, Cintan and all the popular or international instant noodle brands in my groceries unless it's for Ciki(who loves her Asam Laksa Maggi Mee) or guests. There are 2 main reasons for this; one is obviously to reduce intake of MSG and the other being that packaged instant noodles without seasoning is of much better quality and has a better bite. With these 'natural' noodles I could then add non-MSG seasoning to taste.

Several months back I had to pick up some instant noodles from the grocery store. While walking down the aisle, I was attracted to this nicely packaged dried instant noodles, 5ive Energy Somen. Its attractive packaging, the colors of the somen, the supposed health benefits of its ingredients (unbleached wheat flour, sea salt, binchotan(!) charcoal powder, carrot powder, green tea powder, beetroot powder and filtered water), and all the industry certifications (GMP - Good Manufacturing Practice, HACCP, Vegetarian and umm... halal) prompted me to buy it. OK... so I was attracted to 5ive as well.. the product marketing person a creative genius or a big fan of the defuncted boyband? The big boss clearly wants to break into the 18-35 age segment.



A quick search on web for somen gave me this answer "Somen are very thin, white Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. The noodles are usually served cold and are less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The distinction between sōmen and the next thicker wheat noodles hiyamugi and even thicker Japanese wheat noodles udon is that sōmen is stretched while hiyamugi and udon are cut." - If only I had read this information earlier as I ate all of it hot! The box instructions didn't advise me to it eat it cold either. O well.. perhaps the next box.

How did it taste? Well... when cooked right, the texture is good. It had bite. Flavours were mild. I liked the colours - it was different from the usual white or yellow coloured noodles. I had fun cooking and eating them - not all at once of course! The charcoal noodles were like squid ink noodles.



It would have been even more fun doing it the Japanese way.... click on the pic.
Price: ... unfortunately I threw away the receipt. Affordable anyway... found it at Giant Supermarket, not a speciality store, but I suppose you could find it at any health food store really.

~The Cook in the Family, Cumi.

Taste: Mild

Texture: Good
Price:affordable