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Why noodles are so easy?
The preparation is so fast, no need to use an oven or do any extra work, just add boiling water and cook it on the hob for maximum time of 5 minutes; some instant noodles can be ready in 2 minutes! And if you are really lazy and you don't want to wash the pan ... Read review
Advantages: None...and I mean none!! Disadvantages: Taste horrible, lumpy...(everything really)!!
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===How did I find Tesco value chicken noodles?===
I have to admit that when I was in England; I never liked to buy any basic, value or smart price products because I always thought cheaper goods means cheaper quality….I know it's not always right but in this case I was absolutely right! I like to buy bachelors noodles because it has the net weight of 100g and it costs 44p but while my last visit to England last month (strictly ... ...a friend of mine recommended Tesco value noodles to try and for only 8p Although I wasn't too sure about it, I thought why not? So in my next shopping trip I looked for it and I found them, very little to choose from because there was only 3 flavours, Chicken and curry which are both 8p and bacon which is 11p, I can't stand bacon so I picked up the curry and the chicken,
Both of those packs of noodles became nightmares for me and ... more
I can't say I was a great cook before but recently I have worked long hours and I've spent most of the day outside the house which made me less and less attached to the kitchen and especially the cooking part, so the game of pans and spoons did not appeal to me anymore….and what makes it worse is the fact that my mum always cooked for me and does all the house chores as well. (Bless you mum!)
Sometimes when I don't feel like eating a big meal or simply when I didn't like some of my mum's cooking (I know this sounds really bad) I reached for something easy and fast to cook with little preparation or no effort at all! It can be canned vegetables, baked beans, spaghetti and pizza or simply NOODLES!! The fastest food on earth!
What are noodles?
The word noodle comes from the German Nudel (noodle) and maybe related to the Latin word nodus (which means knot) or maybe it is the shape of the noodles which has lots of curly knots! In English, noodle is a generic term for unleavened dough made from many different types of ingredients mainly flour and starch.
Noodles are originally from China which is a very important part of Chinese cuisine, there is rice noodles, egg noodles and flour noodles(instant).
Why noodles are so easy?
The preparation is so fast, no need to use an oven or do any extra work, just add boiling water and cook it on the hob for maximum time of 5 minutes; some instant noodles can be ready in 2 minutes! And if you are really lazy and you don't want to wash the pan try to microwave it (which I mostly use)!
I tried so many instant noodles brands and most of their flavours; some of them were really good at an expensive price while others are very cheap but tasteless and horribly disgusting!
How did I find Tesco value chicken noodles?
I have to admit that when I was in England; I never liked to buy any basic, value or smart price products because I always thought cheaper goods means cheaper quality….I know it's not always right but in this case I was absolutely right! I like to buy bachelors noodles because it has the net weight of 100g and it costs 44p but while my last visit to England last month (strictly for business purpose!) I really suffered without my mum's cooking and with such a tight budget I couldn't offer to buy ready made meals or even have take away or eat in a restaurant. So a friend of mine recommended Tesco value noodles to try and for only 8p Although I wasn't too sure about it, I thought why not? So in my next shopping trip I looked for it and I found them, very little to choose from because there was only 3 flavours, Chicken and curry which are both 8p and bacon which is 11p, I can't stand bacon so I picked up the curry and the chicken,
Both of those packs of noodles became nightmares for me and I would never try them again and won't recommend TESCO VALUE Chicken Noodles! To be totally honest; I can't find anything decent about it apart from the price and I really find that little price is too much for such low quality!
To explain why and how this noodles aren't recommended I will start from the very beginning!
Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
Packing
As all Tesco's value products; the packing is very simple and obviously very basic, mostly white with Tesco's Value logo and a small pic of noodles on a chop stick. Not the best packing and it's not that appealing at all, but I thought they were saving on the packing but the content might be better……………. When I opened the package I found a small piece of dried noodles, I found it very little because I'm used to other brands like Bachelors; I instantly spotted the difference in weight so I turned over the package to see the net weight and I found out that it was only 65g while the others are 100g, nearly a third less. I did my Calculations (which I'm not so good at!) to find out that a 100g of Tesco's value noodles is for 12.4p.
Another disadvantage…is the noodles it self (while it's still dried), it was very thin and looked a bit darker than other noodles. I like to taste my noodles dried before cooking so I tasted those noodles; I found them starchy and tasteless while others are crunchy and tasty.
The sachet
It's the most important part of a good noodle dish, when the seasoning is good, the noodles are good!Reading the contents of the sachet I found that it contained quite a lot of ingredients; Salt, Chicken Extract (1.6%), Sugar, Yeast Extract Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Ginger Powder, Turmeric Powder, Stabiliser (Guar Gum), White Pepper, Coriander Powder and Wakame Pieces.
I thought it was a good sign having some spices because good noodles should have a good seasoning.
When I opened the sachet; I was disappointed, Again very little seasoning and although there was a nice scent coming over, garlic and onion extracts were dominating the whole thing, I couldn't detect a smell of chicken or any other spices like ginger but I waited until the noodles came to life!
Cooking the noodles
I used the traditional way the pan and hob. I followed the instructions exactly like it was on the pack:
Firstly place 200 ml of boiling water in a saucepan then add the content of the seasoning sachet, secondly add the noodles after breaking them into 3-4 pieces. I found this very bizarre as I broke the noodles they were demolished an crashed into smaller pieces which was a sign of bad quality wheat, also breaking them into 3 pieces is too hard as the noodles are very little and with such bad quality the shorter the noodles the worse but as I said I'm following the instructions carefully to see the final results which I can already predict!
Penultimately I added the noodles and let it cook for 2-3 minutes, I smelt the chicken finally, very similar to chicken stock cubes.
Serving
Finally after three minutes I served the noodles in a wide plate, the results were as the following:
The look
First of all it was very little, hardly enough for a person as a snack unlike bachelors (100g) it was like a whole meal or a nice snack. I hated the look, nothing like noodles. They were all like one big lump of dough, very short and a very faint colour of the turmeric (golden yellow) was all over the plate, not very appealing, also I can see some very thinly chopped, hard to spot coriander and some very little of Wakame Pieces.
My rating, a very disappointing 3/10 for the look.
The smell
The smell was a lot like chicken stock (it wasn't that strong or even appealing) with a hint of unknown spices, nothing smells like what they have mentioned on the pack, again not very exciting and not that encouraging.
My rating, 4/10, for the smell.
The taste
The look and the taste have put my appetite off, I tried to convince my self the taste might be better, so I picked up my chop sticks in order to try my first bite, not surprisingly I couldn't use the chop sticks, the noodles were all lumpy and I couldn't separate them so I took a spoon and ate them!Anyway…the noodles tasted very doughy and the seasoning wasn't enough, the main factor that was dominating the whole thing was the SALT! It was Very salty but very bland and tasteless and apart from the turmeric which was a bit visible because of the colour….everything hardly existed even the chicken extract flavour was hardly there.
My rating (sadly) a very horrific 3/10 for the taste
After taste
It left a strange after taste, very stingy and artificial with slight bitterness; I was thirsty afterwards and had an upset stomach for eating all that dough!
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Summary
• It contains wheat, gluten, which is unsuitable for wheat and gluten allergy sufferers. • It contains a great deal of salt, 3.3g per serving equivalent to 55% of the serving! • It has sugar as well, 2.1g per serving, equivalent to 2% • For a diet follower it can be a diet destroyer, it has 445 calories per serving which is 1/3 of your guideline daily amount of 2000 cal for women, and to be totally honest with you it's not worth it, the taste is horrible and it won't satisfy your hunger! • Not suitable for vegetarians • According to their warning, they can't guarantee if it is a nuts free product!
P.S I have to add that the seasoning sachet is not always has the same amount of salt and spices, they don't have exact measures for the recipe, so be warned!
Price and availability
It has Tesco's logo so you can only find it at Tesco supermarket and you can order online as well.The price for the chicken noodles is a very cheap 8P but for what I saw tasted and smelt, it's money wasting not a money saving!
FINALLY, MY CONCLUSION BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE!
As a conclusion I strongly DON'T RECOMMEND this product for many reasons (which I have mentioned in my review) and if you are saying that I can't complain for 8p as most people say, my answer is I am complaining! You can find other brands noodles, 100g with so many flavours to choose from, good quality wheat is used and excellent flavouring and with special offer 3 for £1…I guess this is what I call a bargain!
I know I might be the only person who is against this product and some will not be happy about my opinion but I'm reviewing it honestly and trying to explain why I didn't like it! So what do you think? Do you still want to buy it for a bargain 8p? It's your choice!
Don't be deceived by the low price look at the bigger picture!
Advantages: Cheap to buy and quick to cook Disadvantages: Too salty, too greasy and too awful.
...== Price and Packaging == Tesco Value Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles are the ultimate concept in cheap convenience food and these Tesco chicken noodles certainly are cheap. At only 8p for a packaged ready meal (I am using word 'meal' here in its widest sense) there must be very few cheaper options out there. I would feel guilty buying these noodles for my Jack Russell. Even fish food is more expensive. They come in the now traditional Tesco plain ... ...otherwise the experience of eating Tesco Value Instant Noodles will be an even more gruesome affair. == The Mystery of Chicken Extract == So where is the chicken I here you cry. There is chicken extract contained in these noodles (or chicken debris as I like to call it). The chicken extract is listed in the ingredients as being only 1.6% of the total contents and as consisting of chicken, salt, maize starch and malt dextrin. So we really are talking ...
Zmugzy 27.08.2008 (03.09.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
...was slightly surprised by this tesco product as a review topic. Intrigued by the mass divided opinion and the nothing to really lose price tag of 8p I thought I would try out this product. ===Finding the Product===
I must admit I normally like to cook with fresh ingredients so had some trouble trying to find the instant noodles section but stuffed down the bottom of a shelf in York Tesco store I found what I was looking for, albeit with only a few ... ...through the roof in price. Tesco Chicken flavoured noodles definitely fill a hole and haven't got a bad lasting taste that you strive to get rid of.
I think there is definitely a placebo effect on many products in supermarkets where you pay a price way in excess of supermarket brand only products as you think it to be a much better tasting product but inevitably if you had a blindfold eating test you wouldn't taste much, if anything at all, different. ...
dtait07 29.08.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
Advantages: Cheap, quick to cook Disadvantages: can be high in salt content
....
Value Noodles:
Tesco instant value noodles really have to be one of the cheapest meal substitutes available to people who are afraid of cooking. 8p per pack I can't think of any other product apart from maybe bread or maybe potatoes or rice that would give a fairly filling but reasonably tasty quick meal. I have decided to compare a value pack of Tesco noodles and a non- value pack of Tesco noodles.
Packaging:
The value pack is a bit different ... ...is mainly orange. The Tesco brand is in yellowy-orange while 'instant' is in black and 'Noodles' in white, 'chicken flavour' is below that in white too. The overall impression is orange with creamy coloured noodles creeping up into one of the 'o's of 'Noodles'. You can see these both in the photos I have taken.
Both packs are simple plastic that you tear to open, no wasteful extras in either.
Non-value pack costs 27p whilst the value pack costs ...
catsholiday 31.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
Advantages: Cheap, lovely flavour Disadvantages: Can't think of any.
...from the "value" range of Tesco products....and value they are! We have been buying these Chicken Flavour Noodles for quite a while, my son who is now 11 will eat these instead of sweets or crisps in the evenings which has to be a bonus. The packaging is the usual "value" colours of the basic range from Tesco of white, red and blue which we have not had any problems with. No rips or tears so that the noodles fall all over the floor - before you are ... ...packaging is the Tesco Value brand name. It is kept simple showing noodles in a bowl, and then some cooking instructions on the bottom Along with the Daily guideline amounts of goodness in each pack. On the back of the packet is all the detailed guidelines for cooking the noodles.They are easy enough to prepare you can boil them in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 1/2 minutes or microwave in a 650 watt microwave for 4 1/2 minutes. How to store the ...
loopeyuk 31.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
Advantages: Cheap, Quick, Filling Disadvantages: Not The Healthiest Of Options
I was in Tesco the other day an noticed that these had been reduced to 7p (that'll sort out the world economy) an decided to pick them up as I haven't had them since I left university.
The Packaging
The packet is in the same style as the rest of the Tesco Value range. The bag is white with a red border at the bottom and the name, also in red, written across the middle. Also present is a picture of some noodles being lifted via the use of chopstick, ... ...at home. When you turn over to the back you are greeted with the following nutritional information;
(per serving)
Energy - 1870 kJ (445 kcal)
Protein - 10.9 g
Carbohydrates - 62.8 g Fat - 16.7 g
Saturated Fat - 10.1 g
Salt - 3.3 g
It also warns the it contains wheat and gluten, although it doesn't seem sure of itself when it comes to nut allergy
"Ingredients: Cannot guarantee nut free.
Factory: Before being prepared for manufacture of this ...
TheNew42 14.10.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Tesco Value Chicken Noodles
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Instant noodles are pretty much a student food...except in times of credit crunch. I'd be prepared to bet sales have rocketed among ordinary people who are struggling to get by and looking for the cheapest foods. In fact, I'd buy shares in these noodles if I had any spare money.
So, it was poverty - and seeing Tescovaluechickennoodles reviewed on Ciao recently - that inspired me to start buying instant noodles again. I haven't eaten them since my student days, a few years ago. Even then, I used to indulge in Bachelor's Supernoodles, at a whopping 40p per packet.
I have to say, I actually prefer these noodles, as the taste is less processed.
*Value for money - clearly the most important aspect, after all, you're buying supermarket valuenoodles! At 7p they are a bargain - and 1p cheaper than Tescovaluechickennoodles ...
