#ewew tries A1 Curry Laksa Vermicelli

When grocery shopping the other day, the words A1 caught my attention while I was at the instant noodles aisle.  Well, we all know what we'd associate with the word A1...something that means the best!

When I inspected the brand closer, I found out that it's a Singapore product, manufactured in a factory in Johor and distributed by a Singaporean company (called AK Koh) to more than 20 countries.

Well, if it has a Singapore taste (as claimed), then it should be different from some of our local instant noodles, I suppose.  For one, it's not sold in packs-of-four or five but as a singular packet of A1 Curry Laksa Vermicelli...and that's because one packet is priced at RM5.65 which is almost the price of say a local brand of instant noodles that comes in a pack-of-five.  Mighty expensive, right? ;)  Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating or (in this case) the laksa.

Opening the packet revealed a packet of vermicelli, two packets of seasoning (one, a laksa seasoning and the other, the laksa paste) and a small packet of dried chilli powder.

The laksa seasoning looks like a powdered version of coconut milk.

And the laksa paste looked like the real mccoy...a chilli paste concoction that we might blend ourselves to make our curry paste.

When boiling the laksa broth base, I could clearly see that it had a thick, creamy texture with enough chilli oil from the curry paste.

The result.....the tastiest instant version of curry laksa I've ever tried! ^o^

The laksa broth had that creamy taste of coconut milk with a hint of sweetness and the curry had flavours of onion, garlic, dried prawns, lemongrass and chillies with just the right dose of spiciness (in fact, some would probably feel it's not spicy enough but I like this level of heat).

I can't get over the fact that curry laksa really mimicks the looks of a real curry laksa with its colour of coconut milk and chilli oil...and backs it up with the real taste of a good curry laksa as well.

And what's even better is that it comes in vermicelli, my favourite choice of noodles (with yellow mee) when I'm having curry laksa.

For the purpose of photo taking, I did not pour all the curry broth into the bowl so that the added ingredients (of pork balls and egg) can stand out better.  After that, I just poured whatever's left in the pot into my bowl of curry laksa.

And that's when I found remnants at the bottom of the pot...much like those remnants (of blended chillies and spices that haven't dissolved entirely) left behind in a real pot of curry laksa.  That, to me, is a sign of a good curry...no? ^_*

I liked it so much that I went out to buy a mee version (which is just like any instant egg noodles).

On opening, I found the same two packets of laksa paste and seasoning but no dried chilli powder (that was in the vermicelli version).  Strange?  Don't know if it was a packing boo-boo or the mee version doesn't come with it.

This time I added some prawns (large ones, I might add, that cost me RM1 for one), fish cake and tofu puffs to the curry laksa.  This is quite a meal by itself...but not cheap though because of the prawns.

The curry is awesome (for an instant version) ^.^

It took every ounce of my being to refrain from finishing all the broth....however tempted I was! >_<

If curry laksa is one of your absolute favourite noodles (as it is mine), give this instant curry a try and you'll be an instant fan.  At RM5.65, you'll probably feel that it's expensive since it's almost close to what you'd pay for a real bowl of curry laksa outside but taste it and you'll know it's worth every cent.  Any other instant curry laksa can't cut it for me now since I've tasted this one (though I prefer it with vermicelli).

I guess if we need to eat unhealthy instant noodles, we might as well eat the best ones to make it count...hihihi! ^_~  If you can only have just one packet of instant noodles, make it this one.