#38 - Kabuto Chilli Chicken Ramen Noodles

• Brand: Kabuto Noodles
• Flavour: Chilli Chicken Ramen
• Cost: I was sent a promotional pack (usual price £2.50)
• From: Kabuto
• Description: A fresh tasting noodle dish chicken, extra chilli, peppers, coriander & lime
• Weight: 85g (450g when rehydrated)
• Allergies: Gluten, Egg, Milk
  
  
       Mmmm, chicken chunks...

This is the 2nd new flavour from Kabuto. My last review was for the Prawn Tom Yum and they've topped the list so far. These have got a lot to live up to, not only are Kabuto the overall best noodle product I've testes so far, Chilli Chicken Ramen is my favourite meal in the entire world - here goes!

Packaging and preparation are the same as ever with Kabuto, they get 1.5 out of 2. This is because all of the packaging is recyclable (that's 1 point), the preparation is dead easy (that's 0.5 of a point) but the cup itself is too narrow to properly stir everything around in so they lose that half a point - a real shame.

After preparation (if you take the time  to stir it all up) you get to see all the ingredients floating around including actual chunks of chicken meat, red pepper pieces, and flakes of chilli and coriander. This is very impressive and is part of the joy of the range for me. One thing that isn't mentioned is the welfare of the chicken that they use, it would be lovely to see a Red Tractor symbol or some such.

“How do they taste?” The answer is good, the chilli flavour is a little overpowering though so the sweetness of the peppers is missing and even the chicken hasn't got a lot of flavour compared. That said they're still blooming lovely and I'll give them 3 out of 4 for flavour.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300"] My Chilli Chicken Ramen[/caption]

“Do they remind me in any way of traditional chilli chicken ramen?” The answer is yes and no. The picture on the right is of the chilli chicken ramen that I prepare myself at home, you'll see the lovely garnishes atop the noodles which are in a nice and spicy broth. The chicken is marinaded in chilli sauce before it's added and the chilli in the broth is essentially a diluted chilli paste which is only diluted by the stock. I know this isn't possible in a dried noodle product (yet) but as you can probably guess the flavours are separated out and this is more of a mix of flavours. As I said, it's still blooming lovely but getting the true feel of a ramen dish is just not going to be possible. So, can I  mark them down for this, I think yes but only slightly. It's going to be 1.5 out of 2.

“How do I feel now I’ve finished it?” The answer is as good as ever, lots of chilli remaining around to remind me of my lovely lunch and I'm full as a tick too. 2 out of 2.

Conclusion – I'm a purist when it comes to Chilli Chicken Ramen so maybe I'm being a bit of a pedant. These are lovely, they really are but the heat of the chilli as oppose to chilli flavour is what comes through and I'm sure that could be improved.

Need 4 Noodle Rating: 8/10