When I found the Simply Asia line of soups and noodle bowls on sale, I decided to try their Sesame Chicken Flavor Rice Noodle Soup Bowl.  The picture on the package looks amazing - a giant bowl of soup with tons of long, thin noodles, surrounded by carrots and green onions.  Of course the picture also includes some extra veggies tossed in, and some sesame seeds.  But as the picture is labeled "serving suggestion", I knew those extras were added for the sake of the picture, and wouldn't be present in the actual product.

It states right at the top of the package that this is a "vegetarian" product, so I knew there wouldn't be any real chicken in it.  However, the word "vegetarian" is written in much smaller font than the rest of the words, and is in a dark color against a fairly dark background.  In other words, I wouldn't blame a consumer, if he bought this product, thinking it contained real chicken. 

Preparing the meal is easy, and fairly typical of this type of product.  Tear back the paper cover from the bowl, and you'll find dried noodles, and three packets.  One packet contains dried veggies, one contains seasoning, and one contains oil, which is listed as "optional" in the directions.  Add the contents to the noodles (leaving out the oil, if you want).  Then add boiling water.  Or, add plain water and microwave.  Cover, let sit, and you're done.

Like many food products with a paper-covered cup or bowl, the paper didn't peel back as nicely as I would like.  So when it came time to lay the paper cover back down, it wasn't going to make a nice seal against the bowl's edge.  So I covered the whole thing with a potholder, to help weigh the paper cover down.  I find I have to use this trick with many such products.

So how did it taste?

Well, I thought it tasted good, but it was nothing like it was supposed to taste.  It didn't really taste like chicken.  And I didn't detect one bit of sesame.   The broth was nicely seasoned, but not at all "chickeny".  I liked the noodles, but, again, I wouldn't say they tasted like chicken, or like sesame.  They tasted like salty, "brothy" noodles.   And there was plenty of them - quite a generous amount, actually.  I did like the veggies.  The carrots were crunchy, and the onions flavorful.   

So - when it came to taste - I liked it, but not for the reasons I was supposed to like it. 

So what's in it?  The noodles are simply rice and water.  The seasoning packet consists of several spices starting with sugar, salt, and garlic.  Later down in the list is "artificial chicken flavor".  The oil is canola oil and sesame oil.  Ah.  So that's where the "sesame flavor" (supposedly) comes from.  And the veggie packet is carrots and green onions. 

The entire bowl makes a decent-sized lunch, and contains 260 calories, 3g of fat, 900 mg of sodium, and 2g of fiber. 

The bottom line is that this product will disappoint anyone who's looking for something that tastes like chicken and/or sesame.  I wouldn't know it was either of those two flavors if I didn't read it on the package.  I liked it, but I do feel that it isn't flavored the way it should be, for something called "sesame chicken flavor". 

Recommended: No