Instant noodles have become a common kitchen item in most far east countries since its introduction in 1958. Some might ask where did the year 1958 come from? Hasn't instant dried noodles been around for centuries in China?
Well, the answer is yes and no depending on how you define instant noodles. Noodles has a history of more than 2000 years in China and from there it has spread to Japan and Europe. However it was not until 1958 that Nissin Foods of Japan introduced the first instant "Chicken Ramen" which was intended to be eaten anywhere. Soon the idea became a hit in Japan and Nissin Foods created more varieties to its stable of products. In fact it was recently reported that the Japanese thought the best Japanese invention of the 20th century is the humble instant noodle!
With such enthusiastic response from consumers, it is little wonder that the instant noodle culture have spread throughout Asia and the rest of the world like wild fire. Today you will find instant noodles in all kinds of flavours. Each country's Ramen noodles reflect their own particular cultural preferences. Korean instant noodles are highly spiced. Japanese prefers seafood and mild spices flavour. In Malaysia, we have all types - curry, mushroom, chicken and beef flavourings.
During a recent market survey, we have found quite a number of imported brands like Nissin (Japan), Myojo (Japan), Nong Shim (Korea) and Samyang (Korea). It seems from our survey that food technology has enabled instant noodles to become more interesting than it ever was!
The Korean brands we found come mainly in plastic wrappers like our normal local brands except that they are larger in size and also come with satchets of dried vegetables that miraculously expands into bite size chunks in hot water! The texture of the noodles is more tangy and quite distinctively Korean. These instant noodles cost around RM2-00 to RM3-00 per pack.
The Japanese instant noodles are more elaborate and come in styrofoam containers. You just need to add hot water and wait for two to three minutes and voila - out comes nice piping hot noodles, all ready to eat. What makes these noodles so interesting is that you can actually find meat in the noodles after you pour the hot water. We found some that comes with slices of beef, sliced mushrooms and even one with wantans after you add hot water into them! While convenient, these noodles are quite expensive. The prices range from RM5-00 to RM12-00 per pack! Definitely not that affordable for local Malaysians!
With all these new imports, it means more competition for our local brands. Surely we will see more interesting varieties of local instant noodles in the near future
