When I spied these in the market, I had to try them.
In my mind, my reasons for giving them a go were quite sound.
– I love yakisoba.
– We don’t exactly have a plethora of Japanese restaurants in the area.
– It’s a traditional Japanese food made by a Japanese company, so in theory they should be able to get it right.
Couldn’t be quicker or easier. Add the veggie pack and a cup of water. Microwave for 4 minutes, let it sit for another minute. Add the flavor pack, mix up and it’s done.
The verdict? I am horribly torn. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it just wasn’t really right, either. The cabbage in the veggie pack does make it smell like you’d expect it to (if you like yakisoba, then it will be a familiar aroma), but the flavor packet is kind of weird. There isn’t much water left after microwaving, so it sticks to the noodles. Perhaps it’s by design, but it doesn’t seem to dissolve as well as it should. The noodles do have that familiar ever so slightly oily mouth feel to them (it’s hard to describe), but overall, something is either missing or overdone, but I just can’t say for sure what it is.
Maybe my expectations were too high, having eaten a decent amount of yakisoba when we were stationed in Japan.
However, everyone’s tastes are different and I’d say it’s worth buying one and giving it a shot to see if you like it, it’s not at all expensive and won’t take up half your day to prepare it. Myself, I doubt I’ll buy it again, though.
I think it will be worth my while to get hold of some real soba noodles and hunt down a good seasoning recipe, even if it does take longer. (But doesn’t it always seem to work out that way?)