Another HMart find.

Each pack of Menraku has 2 powdered flavor packets and 2 bundles of noodles. Because of this I decided to make one bundle by pouring hot water over it as if it were cup-type instant noodles and the other bundle by the recommended way, in a pot over the stove.

Logistically it was difficult to cover the noodles with water as they are far too big to squeeze into even a normal rāmen bowl so I needed to break the hot-water batch in half. The ones in the pot were fine once they cooked enough and slumped down into the boiling water.

It's no surprise the batch that was cooked the recommended way came out better. Much better, in fact. Despite leaving the cup-style bundle in hot water one minute longer than I cooked the stovetop ones (4 minutes instead of 3) the cup-style ones were not cooked all the way through. I returned these to the stove to finish. Also, in breaking them in half, they were now not very long anymore like the noodles for any rāmen should be.

The noodle taste and texture reminds me of spaghetti. The comparison immediately brought this image to mind:

There's nothing special here, just not terrible like some instant noodles can be. Decent bite, not too thin or weak. Again, I think of spaghetti when I taste these. They don't soak up much broth either.

The broth is amazing; there is a surprisingly deep flavor to it, redolent of actual tonkotsu broth. Considering this broth was a powder 3 minutes ago this is a very surprising and pleasant find, as the only other broth I've had that's even come close is that of Maruchan Gold Spicy Miso. This broth is arguably better despite being a simple powder. The only point againt this broth is that it is more salty than any broth I've had and it doesn't taste like miso very much. But as a tonkotsu imitator it does an amazing job.

By itself these instant noodles are boring. It could be an amazing base for the noodles and broth in a more elaborate dish. That's what the splash on the front of the package seems to suggest I should do.