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Wednesday, 30 July 2014

#ewew tries MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodles

After hearing so much about MyKuali's Penang White Curry Noodle, I was eager to see what the ruckus was about this noodle, especially after tasting Maggi's Penang Seafood Curry.

MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle is the first instant noodle in its MyKuali line and shot to global fame when it made its way into a popular American noodle reviewer's blog (Ramen Rater's "Top 10 spiciest instant noodles of all time 2013").

It took the local market by storm and created a frenzy amongst consumers who wanted to try this 'phenomenon'.  Its manufacturer was reported to have sold almost 10 million packets in its first 6 months even with limited distribution in selected supermarkets.  Based on the information provided on their Facebook, it is now (supposedly) available locally in Giant Hypermarkets, Cold Storage, Mercato and Jason's Food Hall (but I still couldn't find it in some of these stores) and selected supermarkets and mini-markets nationwide.  [#Note: The manufacturers are also planning to repackage the product in cup form by early 2015.]

Not only did MyKuali take the local market by storm, it also gained fame worldwide with orders being shipped to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, Europe and the United States.

The Ramen Rater, who has reviewed more than 1,000 instant noodles, with Malaysia being on his top 10 list for the first time, described it as "a curry lover's dream" and one of the best curry instant noodles he has ever had.

I finally got my hands on MyKuali's Penang White Curry Noodle (actually my husband managed to find one for me at a Cold Storage supermarket in PJ).

It comes in a packet of 4 and retails at RM6.89 which is cheaper than Maggi's Penang Seafood Curry by about RM1.

Just like Maggi's Penang Seafood Laksa, it comes with 3 packets of seasoning.

This is how the seasonings looked like....there's a non-dairy creamer, a packet of cooked chilli paste and a seasoning powder.  The first thing that hit me, when I opened the sachets, was that I could not smell the seasoning and curry paste (like in Maggi's) as it was not as fragrant or aromatic.

This is my bowl of MyKuali Penang White Curry Noodle...ready for consumption.  Taste wise, the noodles are a little thicker than your typical instant noodle and tends to stick together a bit.  You'll find that the chilli paste has a harder consistency and slightly more difficult to dissolve.  The deep curry flavour in the broth was not as good as Maggi's as the savoury flavour was not as pronounced.  The curry paste is definitely spicier than Maggi's but not so hot and fiery as described by the Ramen Rater (coz we locals obviously can take spicier food).

I don't understand what the "hoo-hah" is about MyKuali's Penang White Curry Noodle after tasting it...coz (taste wise), I found both the noodles and the curry broth lagging behind Maggi's.  It was not a 'curry lover's dream'...at least not my 'dream'! 

After tasting both, I definitely preferred Maggi's Penang Seafood Curry (read my review here) to MyKuali's Penang White Curry.....hands down!!  My guess is that the worldwide hysteria is not so much from the 'taste' but from the word 'Penang'...after all, Penang has long been known as the food capital of Malaysia.  If you want your product to sell like 'hot cakes' to foreigners, just make sure the word 'Penang' is in your product...somewhere :)

MyKuali has launched its 2nd instant noodle range, the MyKuali Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodle about 2 weeks back...ooo..I love prawn mee....that's next on my list to try!
 

2 comments:

  1. I have eaten both before your review. Now I must go and try again because I actually prefer MyKuali to Maggi so I will try to smell the curry paste like you did before cooking them.

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    1. Trust your taste buds (and not my review) coz it's acceptable that people do have differing personal tastes. I personally found the Maggi version more "lemak". And if you smell them (especially the seasoning powder), you'll see the difference.

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