KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — Everybody has a Maggi mee memory, right? I will bet one of the first things you learned to “cook” is Maggi instant noodles.
Most people start with that classic -— the chicken flavour — and quickly graduate to either the assam laksa or curry. Later, we all learned to pimp up our Maggi noodles with fish balls, vegetables, etc.
Enter Maggi Royale. Think of it as the grown-up, more sophisticated older sister of Maggi.
Earlier this year, Maggi Royale Penang Seafood Curry Noodle wowed fans with its version of that Penang favourite — white curry noodle.
Its packaging boasted of a richer seafood broth with a belacan-based chili paste that is close as it can get to the real thing.
It prompted my Penang colleague who is a foodie — aren't all Penangites? — to give this latest version of Penang curry instant noodles a try.
Instead of comparing it to freshly-made hot bowls of the hawker fare from her favourite stall, she decided to try it as someone who has never had real Penang curry noodles but had so far only tried instant curry noodles.
Upon opening the package, inside are the usual ingredients — the cake of noodles and three packets of seasonings.
What's different about the Maggi Royale Seafood Curry noodles is in the packet of chili paste that gave it an extra punch.
The chili paste is the secret behind any curry noodle dish, it is what gives the rich seafood broth the extra zing, thus ensuring the smooth milky richness from coconut milk or in the case of instant noodles, non-dairy creamer, is not too cloying.
The chili paste included in Maggi Royale's curry noodles is a combination of real toasted belacan and sautéed fragrant chillies and spices.
Yes, real roasted belacan. Just the aroma of that is enough to get your saliva flowing!
Cooked within three minutes, the combined aroma of the chilli paste and creamer is tantalising with a light but aromatic spicy scent.
The bowl of noodles is of course further enhanced if you add some extra ingredients like cockles, shrimps, long beans, bean curd puffs, bean sprouts and fish balls.
Now there is a new addition to the Maggi Royale family: Korean Spicy Braised Beef.
Fans of Korean ramyun are going to love this. When instant noodles or ramyun were first introduced into Korea in the 1960s, people did not go for the light chicken flavour being more used to robust beefy tastes.
Since then, a successful ramyun has to have hearty and spicy flavours.
Maggi Royale's Korean Spicy Braised Beef has a real kick to it. My spice-loving friend May made hers with less water so the broth became stronger. Just the way she liked it.
It's good to know that Maggi mee — our childhood favourite — has now gone global. In flavours.
What can we expect next? Some ramen loving maybe?
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