I was at the supermarket the other day when I came across Maggi's latest instant noodles offering...Maggi Royale Korean Spicy Braised Beef Flavour, the latest in the Royale line after the Penang Seafood Curry.
This is the pack-of-four Maggi Royale Korean Spicy Braised Beef Flavour which retails at RM7.90 (similarly priced as its predecessor).
This packet of noodles contains only 2 sachets...a spicy braised beef flavour powder which, when opened (and during cooking), had a fragrant beefy smell to it.
The other sachet contained (real) vegetables of carrots, spring onions and chillies (as advertised) although we know it as dehydrated vegetables.
This is how the 2 satchets of stuff look like.
And here's my bowl of Maggi Royale Korean Spicy Braised Beef Flavour that's ready to be eaten. The noodles are chewier and a lot thicker than the usual ones from Maggi...it's almost udon-like (I cooked my noodles for 4 mins).
Although the broth had the right colour of a beef broth and a somewhat beefy flavour, it was one-dimensional as all I could taste was the spiciness....and this one has a real kick to it (so beware those of you who can't take spicy stuff). This is not a broth that you would want to slurp till the last drop unless you want to run the risk of burning the roof off your mouth!
But, most of all, it 'screamed' for something....some real braised beef chunks of an authentic bowl of Korean braised beef noodles. This is not a bowl of noodles like its predecessor, Maggi Royale's Penang Seafood Curry, that you can add ingredients like shredded chicken, fish cakes, prawns, tofu puffs or long beans (that you can easily get) to perk up the dish. For this Korean Spicy Braised Beef Flavour, you can add one thing and one thing only....and that's real braised beef (something not many of us know how to make and neither is it store-bought readily available). So, in terms of flexibility, this noodle pales in comparison to its predecessor.
In the end, would I want to eat more of this Maggi Royale Korean Spicy Braised Beef Flavour?....err, most probably not! I'd give this a miss :(
P/S: Now, I think Maggi will probably want to un-feature my article (in their website) on Maggi Royale's Penang Seafood Curry, lest their customers see this when they visit my blog.....wakakakaka!! XD
i guess it's a clever effort to capitalise on the korean culinary craze ... i wonder what fun flavour the royale series will come up with next! any suggestions? :D
ReplyDeleteI wonder too....I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a "mee goreng" version :D
Deletean honest review mah. They should be open minded to accept feedback. It's not as if you asking your readers not to eat it.
ReplyDeletetaste are based in individiul la. You might like, i might dislike and vice versa.
Actually i didnt know maggi have this till you highlighted. ....since you recommend Maggi Penang seaood curry ...maybe i will try it out.
alngkah bagus if they have a mixed pack....then i can try all flavour instead of buying so much then discover i dont like
Of course they won't conveniently give us a mixed pack! That way, they can make us buy 2 packets instead of 1...more profits for them :(
DeleteIt would be smarter for them to come up with a solution for what you mention. Recipe to make braised beef to go with the noodles XD .
ReplyDeleteGiving us a recipe wouldn't help...we'd still be too lazy to make it :D Maybe, giving us a canned version might work better ;)
DeleteI have seen the advertisement on TV. In the ad (if I remember correctly) there were beef chunks in the soup. I suppose we can just boil some beef and then put in the soup, no? Not so convenient I guess. And if we were to make our own Korean braised beef, we won't need this noodle and the seasoning. Appreciate your honest review :)
ReplyDeleteBeef chunks in the soup....that's false advertising....wakakaka!!
DeleteOh? Not great. Hmmm...will give it a miss then.
ReplyDeleteDon't take my word for it. If you happen to like braised beef noodles, can give it a try...at least once!
DeleteOoh, that packaging makes those Maggi noodles seem so fancy. :-)
ReplyDeleteCan charge more when the packaging is fancy ;) and that's probably why they added the word "royale" to its name in their marketing gimmick.
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