Friday, February 20, 2009

5ive Energy Noodles - Food of champions?

box

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.

energy-somen2

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.

4.1colors-noodle

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

13 comments:

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hahah like the title "the cook of the family"...

Julian Si said...

WAHHH!!! Your blog entries get more and more interesting :-) bravo!

Slurrrp.... the way I like to eat my noods!

thule a.k.a leo said...

ah.. always a good place to find new product offering at Giants. I have always liked going to Giants coz I can buy a lot of stuff that:
1) can fill my stomach
2) don't burn a hole in my wallet
3) slightly cheaper compared to those pharmacies & neighbourhood mini market (except for convenience purpose)
4) I can compare price with.. different brand, different sizes, different ingredients... arrghhh... what happened to simplicity???

worldwindows said...

Japanese somen is new to me but eating it coming down from a bamboo drain pipe is authentic and ethnic!

Tummythoz said...

More fun if mix all the colourful noodles together, no?

Selba said...

Cute colorful noodles! I don't think I've seen it in the supermarket except the colorful vermicelli ones.

fatboybakes said...

hahahah, the cook in the family!!
hey, so, can it be eaten hot? somehow i dont like cold noodles.

Ciki said...

Joe: i also eat... sometimes

Julian: Bravo? Hmm.. you remind me of somebody i read recently... but it couldnt be you.

Thule: Simplicity went with politics

WW: you can do it right here in our jungles too! lotsa large bamboo stalks available. Have to transfer by lorry though. can invite the village folks too.

Tummy: they were packed so nicely so i didnt want to mess it up.

Selba: try the specialty food stores eg. Just Life (may be).

fbb:hot can eat, cold up to you la...i'm not excited about cold noodles either. hmmm... i just thought of a cold thai dessert with noodles

Anonymous said...

I'm sending Tim over to you for lessons, Cumi.

thenomadGourmand said...

me too! NEVER eat Maggi unless it's Vit's Cintan or its written "Air Dried". tryin to stay slim mahhh ;p

backStreetGluttons said...

new sensations like these colors should be exciting huh ?

especially doing it cold...
...errr its c o o l baby

Big Boys Oven said...

Looks good to me, like the variety of colour. I must get a pack and sit in and dine! lol!

Anonymous said...

wah...your noodles look so delicious! what did you use for the soup?

do you wash too? maybe you can host a husband training camp, i'll send my husband over too!! :))