Simply Asia rice noodle soup bowl, garlic sesame flavor

Here is an instant noodle product riding my ceiling fan


This particular variety is Simply Asia's rice noodle soup bowl, flavored "garlic sesame" and labeled as "mild" in terms of spiciness.



I wasn't intimidated by my last (horrible) experience with rice noodles and this company because this package wasn't expired. Actually I couldn't find an expiration date at all. This threw up no red flags.



Look, it comes in a bowl, with artsy packaging. You know how I like that sort of stuff. Less for me to wash. (Worse for the environment, I'm aware, but... well actually I don't really have an excuse.) Unfortunately it didn't come with a collapsible fork. I'm still impressed by that thing, may it rest in peace.

Preparation was basic. Like some others, it gave two sets of directions, one for using hot water and one for the microwave-- but they were pretty much the same, mix in packets and expose to hot water for a little while. One thing I will point out is it said to microwave for two to three minutes, if going that route. To me, that seems like a large window. I know it's only a minute, but when you're only dealing with two or three of them, it's a large spread.



I said "basic" but of course I still managed to mess it up. I opted for two and a half minutes because the middle always seems like a fair tradeoff, but I should have known that it wouldn't have been fully done when I opened the microwave and wasn't greeted with an overflowy mess. I guess it gets points for having a tall enough lip, though.

So then I started eating. And it was pretty good! It definitely tasted like both garlic and sesame-- I could pick out both flavors distinctly. The only other flavor was a mild spiciness, which seemed a little out of place, but I like hot sauce a lot so it was okay anyway. It wasn't musty, like the other noodles were. There was an oil packet (which was probably the cause of the grossness in the Garlic and Vegetable fiasco) but it didn't stand out as being bad (or good for that matter.)

The noodles were still slightly firm, which was disappointing. It really says something, though, that instead of re-microwaving it, I ate it anyway. It was good!

Other details: Vegetables were carrots and some sort of green onion/scallion thing, which were sort of crispy, but not enough to be distracting like in the last noodle product I tried. There was lots of water left over, but definitely enough flavoring; it was a true soup.

One final, unfortunate note: I was hungry again two hours later. Like, seriously hungry.

Final score: Eat it, as long as you're willing to eat again soon.

PS FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK