#ewew makes Mamee Chef Bihun (& Mi) Kari Seribu Rasa

Sometime in late January this year, I received an email from Mamee introducing their latest addition to the Mamee Chef family....the Mamee Chef Gold Recipe of "Mi Kari Seribu Rasa" and "Bihun Kari Seribu Rasa".  [#Note: Mamee Chef Gold Recipe is an original recipe created in collaboration with local celebrity chef, Dato' Chef Ismail using the finest ingredients, including fresh herbs and spices, in its Special Sambal Paste.]

 

They said that they have read my blog and were giving out limited edition Mamee Chef Gold Recipe trial packs for people to try.  I don't know how they found my blog...it must have been the one post I did on Mamee Chef Curry Laksa back in October 2014.

 

Anyway, by the time I got round to opening that email, more than one month has passed, and so, when I was doing my grocery shopping recently, I saw it on the supermarket shelves and I decided to get some to try.

 

Each pack (with a 4+1 free individual packets inside) retails at around RM7.95 a pack.  You have a choice of either meehoon (bihun) or mee (mi).

 

There are 3 sachets of seasoning inside each packet of noodles...the seasoning powder, the non-dairy creamer and a sambal paste...a  real cooked sambal paste and not one of those powdered sachets.

 

Although the packet instructions say to cook it for 3 mins, it doesn't need that long actually.  Once the curry broth is boiling, I put in the bihun and cooked it for less than 2 mins.

 

Once cooked, you'd soon realise that the bihun is a rather generous portion.  So, in this case, you need just one packet of noodles to make you feel full (unlike the ones by Maggi...even the Maggi Big).  And the best thing is, the bihun manages to keep its integrity and doesn't get soft even when it's soaking in the curry broth while you're eating it.  I'm liking this bihun a lot!

 

Although the curry broth has this reddish looking oil on the surface, do not be alarmed as the spiciness is tolerable.  The special sambal paste tasted like it was made with fresh herbs and spices.  The curry broth came off as thick and creamy, with just enough savouriness, but lacking a bit in the "santan" (coconut milk) flavour department.  

 

Because the curry broth is so flavourful, you can up the ante of this bowl of curry with extra "liew" (ingredients) like prawns, shredded chicken, fish cakes and long beans.  I think just bean curd puffs are good enough as they're absolutely wonderful in curries because of their ability to soak up the broth.  But I do love it topped with a well fried egg...none of that oozy egg yolk stuff coz this is a curry.  I don't know what it is about fried eggs and instant noodles....they're a match made in (food) heaven! ;D

 

If you prefer the mi version, they have that too.  This one has a less springy texture than Maggi's instant noodles.  This is how the instant noodles look like...they're round instead of square (and it fits perfectly into my Pyrex jug).

This is my Mamee Chef's Mi Kari version...with a little help from my 'friends' (some store-bought yong tau foo leftovers).  I would definitely choose bihun over the mi version anytime. 

So, did it have "seribu rasa" (a thousand flavours) like its namesake?  Obviously not...but it did have a good enough flavour!  I now have two instant curries that I can turn to when I'm craving for some curry in the middle of the night....Maggi's Penang Seafood Laksa and Mamee Chef's Bihun Kari Seribu Rasa except the latter is missing a bit of that freshness (tangy flavour) that was apparent in their Mamee Chef Curry Laksa.  So, for me, I prefer Maggi's Penang Seafood Laksa by a whisker! ;D  [#P/S:  Now I think Mamee is probably glad that they didn't give me any free samples!] :D

Footnote:
I have no complaints about the taste of the noodles but just some discontentment with the packaging of it.  I once opened a packet and found that the sambal sachet was missing...huh?  I thought automated packing machines don't make errors...I think I've been watching too many Unwrapped episodes!  Another time, I forgot to remove all 3 sachets of seasoning and boiled my noodles with one unopened sachet in it.  Obviously, I had to throw the entire thing away.  Different instant noodle brands have different number of seasoning sachets making it difficult to remember (when we bounce from one noodle brand to the other).  I just wished that those with more than one sachet of seasoning would enclose everything in one transparent plastic packet, so much easier for people like us me...with poor memory!