tung-i chinese beef: greasier by the dozen

by rameniac | 21 Feb 2007

You’ve seen it before. You’ve probably consumed it, too, in vast quantities like college students up and down the west coast. Thirty-cent Tung-I instant ramen, available at every Chinese supermarket in North America. Staple fare for the entire continent of Asia, made in Taiwan and a distant, Sino-inflected cousin to the original flash-fried wonder, Nissin Chikin Ramen.

Tung-I Chinese Beef-flavored “Ramen Noodle” is a whole heck of a lot oilier than most packaged Japanese ramen (there’s even a trademark satchet of fluorescent orange lard). Additionally, it’s loaded to the gills with monosodium glutamate and other powdery accoutrements, like scented five spice, which rarely resonate with native Japanese instant noodle lovers.

That’s not to say it’s bad, however. Stuff like this is surely better than the ubiquitous Top Ramen or Maruchan lines of instant noodles, a touch more exotic and still acquirable by the case for little more than the price of a value meal at McDonald’s. Tung-I, like most packaged instant noodles, come with no toppings to speak of. Other than a few dried scallions, you’re advised to follow the picture on the wrapper and load up your bowl with snow peas, stir-fried beef, or other things. If I’m really that hungry, I’ll go to a restaurant. If I’m looking for a quick snack, I’ll just wind up throwing in whatever’s at hand - spam, cabbage, a raw egg perhaps.

Taste-wise, Chinese Beef is one of the brand’s better flavors; the shoyu-based broth trails off into an almost spicy kick. There are a few elements brewing on in the soup that give it a distinctly Chinese flavor, perhaps even a touch of of hakkaku or star anise, which is something of a fragrant Japanese wolfsbane. The dried noodle cake cooks up into firm, ribbon-like squiggles much like Chikin Ramen, comes pre-seasoned, and is readily crunchable as a dried snack. Throw in the powder satchet if you like, but best set the lard aside.