Nissin Tom Yum Shrimp Paste Creamy Sauce
If you have been paying attention, you will know that this is the third time that I’m reviewing a Tom Yum flavor product of Nissin Thailand. I had their Tom Yum Cup Noodles which was pretty great but maybe not the right thing in the Japanese summer that’s currently making life less fun in Japan. I also had their Tom Yum yakisoba style noodles in cup form from Thailand, which was good, but had the typical low quality noodles issue and a very small portion.
So now I got my hands on a bag version, which promises to fix the noodle quality and portion issue. If that’s really true, let’s find out below.
Content
The bag comes with 3 different contents. First, you have your classic fried noodle brick. And your eyes don’t deceive you, it’s pretty small. I would say it’s probably at least 30% smaller than for example a Nissin Raoh pack by Nissin Japan or similar bag instant noodles. A bit disappointing, again.
In the two sachets you will find your dry powder seasoning and a very aromatic oily paste with some solid ingredient bits.
Pro tip: get the oil paste sachet warm before you open it. Maybe drop it into the boiling noodle water for like 10 seconds. Otherwise it’s very difficult to properly get everything out of the sachet. And you don’t want to miss out on any bit of flavor, right?
Preparation
The preparation is clearly described on the packaging in English and Thai. Even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be that hard to guess.
Bring 400ml or “enough” water to a boil. The amount doesn’t all that much, it just has to be enough so you can get all the noodles boiled.
Boil the noodles in the water for 4 minutes.
Drain the water, reserve 1-2 spoonfuls of it.
Mix noodles with the sachet contents and the reserved water. Without the water, the mixture might be a bit too dry.
If you can, fry a sunny side egg or two in the meantime and add on top.
Enjoy!
Review
After mixing it all up, the whole dish isn’t really a beauty and looks a bit like a mess. But that is all made up by the fragrant aroma of the oily sauce and the seasoning. It starts filling the room, as soon as you start mixing it into the hot noodles.
I think the seasoning itself is either the same or at least very similar to the Cup Noodle version of Nissin Thailand. It has that nice lemongrass flavor you would expect and a bit of shrimpiness, without being overpowering, while still having a good kick. The same with the hotness level, it’s not too much or something I would personally really consider spicy. It has a good base level spice kick to it, but spicy food lovers will surely have to add their own chili powder or some hot sauce on top. I think, some fresh chilis would also work well for a bit of additional crunch.
My main gripe with this product of Nissin Thailand is again the noodles. First, the portion is way too small for a proper meal. It’s really more of a snack, even if you add some toppings. I will say that the quality of the noodles is better than the quality of the Cup Noodle with the same flavor, as is usually the case when you compare bag instant noodles and cup instant noodles.
Overall it is a tasty product of which I would have to open 2 bags to be satisfied. Flavor wise, it is definitely up there and can be turned into a very flavorful meal with some nice toppings.
7.0 out 10
