Mama Instant Pad Thai Noodles

Tagged: Seaweed, Seafood sticks, Seafood flavour, Mama

Mama would never let me down, right?

I wasn't feeling like anything spicy this weekend, so I had to dig into my box of science subjects a little deeper. Turns out I collect a lot more flavours that are inherently or outwardly spicy than I thought. I usually really like Mama noodles, in fact as of this writing their Tom Yum is still leading the scientific ranking, so I plucked this one out from near the bottom.

The instructions, which I generally try to follow to the letter for every ramen I intend to write about, call for cooking the noodles in boiling water alone and only adding the rest of the seasoning afterwards. I'm not sure why some manufacturers do it that way, and others tell you to put everything together with the boiling water all at once, I'm sure there's some science behind it.

The usual suspects.

I let the rice noodles cook for a few minutes and once they were done, pulled back the lid covering the bowl. The first thing that struck me is how I'm not used to the aroma of rice noodles as opposed to wheat noodles. I didn't try any before seasoning, but in hindsight I kinda wish I did.

The seasoning packets are similar to other Mama noodles: a double-chambered packet with the main powder and optional chili powder, and a separate sachet of a paste appropriate for your flavour of choice. On this one I thought it was a garlic paste, but the packaging only mentions shallots. Mixing them all into the noodles doesn't prove too encouraging, as it seems not much of it sticks to the noodles and only stays in the broth. Whether this is due to rice noodles not absorbing as much as common wheat ones, or the process only bringing the flavouring in after they're already cooked, I have to say it's a little disappointing.

I quite like thin noodles, the texture doesn't leave anything to be desired. However as I suspected, the noodles don't taste like much. The broth, well, isn't much to write home about either. I was initially worried this one might be a write-off, but by the time I finished the bowl my opinion turned a little. Now, I can't judge this on its Pad Thai-ness since I've never had real Pad Thai (I know, shocker), but I really wish the flavour wasn't as subtle as it is. I can tell there's a zest to it, and a sweet aftertaste that's really interesting, but it feels like I'm trying to make out shadows in the dark. Maybe my palate isn't refined enough, maybe I blasted my taste buds with hot sauce one too many times. (No regrets.)

I probably could've used a smaller bowl for this, but that's hindsight for you.

Since the main ingredient of a Pad Thai, from my brief understanding, is supposed to be shrimp, I decided to pair this bowl with the usual suspects of imitation crab sticks and seaweed. The seaweed immediately overpowered the broth in flavour, but in the end I feel like the result was a surprisingly pleasant synergy. I think this is one of those instant noodles that just doesn't work too well on its own by virtue of the seasoning packets being more something to spice up other ingredients you're supposed to bring yourself, rather than being the main star of the show. There's nothing wrong with that, but it sort of defeats the purpose of an instant meal in my opinion.

Meal Components

The Scientific Method

• Put rice noodles in bowl
• Pour just enough boiling water to cover noodles and cover with a lid
• Remove lid after 3 minutes and add seasoning
• Note the lack of change in noodles no matter how much you stir
• Add other stuff to it anyway and make a perfectly cromulent lunch
• Enjoy!

Disappointing does not mean bad. I've certainly had worse noodles, but I fear that Mama's other sibling will continue to reign supreme in the ranking.