I’m a young working adult, so I eat a lot of instant noodles. That’s just the natural order of the universe.
With (a) no time and (b) no money, instant noodles are pretty much the perfect pick-me-up.
They’re cheap, easy to prepare, and delicious.
That’s not to say that all instant noodles are made equal.
In my 20-odd years of life, I’ve tried a lot of different brands. I’m not good at much, but on this I am prepared to claim a certain level of expertise.
So when Mi Sedaap asked us to review their different flavours, I knew immediately that this was a task uniquely suited to my talents. And taste buds.
Our Mi Sedaap taste test
For this article, I tried three different flavours of Mi Sedaap’s goreng (fried noodle) products.
(BTW, Mi Sedaap is Malay for “delicious noodles”. In case you didn’t know.)
They are:
- Goreng Asli (Original)
- Ayam Krispi (Crispy Chicken)
- Korean Spicy Chicken
Photo by Ilyda Chua
Because two is better than one, I also invited a colleague, Hannah, to taste-test them along with me.
A fellow instant noodle connoisseur, she has the added advantage of being Eurasian and hence having an (arguably) above-average spice tolerance.
“If I cannot take spice, I’m a disgrace to the family,” she informed me.
Ok, Hannah.
Flavour #1: Mi Sedaap Goreng Asli (Original)
As instant noodle connoisseurs, we decided to jazz up the dishes — as was befitting of our title.
We started off with their signature flavour, the Mi Sedaap Goreng Asli.
For this, we kept our presentation classic: a sunny side-up egg on the side, with a swoosh of fried onions, or kriuk-kriuk® (the ones that came in the pack).
We garnished it with parsley and more fried onions.
Photo by Ilyda Chua
The noodles were nicely springy with just the slightest hint of spice, and the fried onions added a nice crunch.
They also went great with the fried egg.
Photo by Ilyda Chua
Our only gripe: there just wasn’t a lot of it.
“It would make a nice snack. But probably not enough for a full meal…unless you added luncheon meat, or maybe some chicken,” Hannah said.
Fortunately, we had two packs left to go.
Flavour #2: Mi Sedaap Ayam Krispi (Crispy Chicken)
The second flavour was Ayam Krispi, or crispy chicken.
As soon as we opened the seasoning packets, we were struck by the smell.
“It smells just like fried chicken. That makes me happy,” said Hannah (she also loves fried chicken).
We garnished this one with more parsley and some sambal chilli.
And for added crunch, we added some keropok on the side.
Photo by Ilyda Chua
This one was slightly spicier than the original flavour. After mixing it, it smelled even more like fried chicken, with a noticeable chicken-y taste. (I don’t know. I’m not a food reviewer, okay?)
It also went nicely with the keropok.
I could imagine pairing it with leftover veggies as well, which would help cut through the savouriness (and maybe make me feel a bit less guilty about indulging).
Canape style. Ooh, fancy. Photo by Ilyda Chua
Flavour #3: Mi Sedaap Korean Spicy Chicken
I’ll be honest.
I was most wary of this, because I’ve had the famous spicy buldak noodles — aka fire ramen — and I was not a fan. Mostly because I enjoy my mouth not being on fire.
As we mixed the noodles with the seasoning packets, my anxiety grew. “Wow, it looks really red,” said Hannah in her usual comforting way.
Photo by Ilyda Chua
Probably accounting for chickens like me, the noodles came with a segmented chilli packet, so we could choose how much to add.
Photo by Ilyda Chua
Being the intrepid soul I am, I decided to go with just half the spice.
For the final dish, we decided to go simple with a light sprinkling of fried onions over the top.
Photo courtesy of Mi Sedaap
My cowardliness turned out to be for the better. Hannah took a bite and commented, “This burns. But it’s a nice burn.”
I, on the other hand, could instantly feel the spice tear down my gullet. “Let me get some water before I listen to your review,” I choked out, sprinting to the kitchen.
While it was still tasty, the spice was definitely pushing it for me. Not quite as spicy as fire ramen with just half a packet, but I imagine the full packet would bring even the most daring spice-lovers to their knees.
“I’m literally sweating,” I said.
Hannah just shrugged. “It’s still enjoyable for me. I like this kind of pain.”
Did I mention that Hannah’s kind of a weirdo?
The verdict
Conclusion: definitely a thumbs up on all three.
My personal favourite was the signature Goreng Asli, because it had that delicious fried-noodle taste without too much spice.
Meanwhile, Hannah’s was the Ayam Krispi (crispy chicken) flavour, because of the fried-chicken-esque aroma and taste.
Like the best kinds of instant noodles, Mi Sedaap’s noodles were both tasty and easy to prepare.
As a bonus, I also learnt that I have no future as a food stylist, and should probably just eat the noodles as-is in future — maybe as a midnight snack or a low-effort, low-budget lunch.
But hey, who knows? I might still bother to fry an egg to go with it.
Check out their YouTube page for creative recipes or their Facebook page for more info.
Writing this Mi Sedaap-sponsored article made this writer thankful that she didn’t pursue a career in the culinary arts.
Top image by Ilyda Chua