Thai Tom Yum Soup FreshPak Noodle Bowl

April 24, 2008 | Reviewer: Andrew

Thai Tom Yum Soup FreshPak Noodle Bowl Price: $2.50 on sale (Free from supplier)
Serving: 1/2 bowl, 3oz. plus water
Who eats a half bowl of microwaved soup? Nobody. That’s why the information below is for the entire bowl.
Calories: 300
Fat: 4%, 3g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 60%, 1460mg
Protein: 10g
Carbohydrates: 20%, 60g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 4g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Per Serving, 6 Per Bowl

Annie Chun says: I love Thai food and one of my favorite dishes is Tom Yum Soup. I make Tom Yum Soup for myself and have wanted to share it with my customers, but it has taken me a while to perfect. Now I am excited to have a recipe that I can share with you. Tom Yum is the main soup in Thailand - light, fragrant and calming, wonderful on either warm or cold days. This Tom Yum Soup Bowl is super convenient and great tasting, ready in just one minute.

Andrew says: This is the tale of the four-star soup that shouldn’t have been. This soup tried so hard to turn me back, to make me hate it, and yet it was still pretty awesome.

In the beginning, I followed the package’s instructions to submerge Annie Chun’s famous FreshPak noodles (read: pre-cooked noodles vacuum sealed in a plastic chamber) in hot water to break them apart a bit. Upon attempting to pull the noodles apart, though, I was met with a most familiar odor. Could it be … yes, it was Play-Doh, the childhood modeling clay that smelled unsettlingly like bread dough and melted crayons. Was I really about to eat Play-Doh-smelling noodles? Yes. For science.

Then, after draining away that water, I was to add the soup’s flavor essence and toppings. I started with the package of sauce, the heart of the Tom Yum experience. I wrung it from its packet and was met with yet another pungent odor, this one too foreign to describe. After looking at the ingredients I decided that fish sauce, ginger, chilis and lime could well account for the odd spiciness of the scent penetrating my brain. Moving on to the little briquette of toppings, I decided to bust it apart a little before depositing a stone of dehydrated veggies onto my odoriferous concoction. This helped, as I was able to identify individual flecks of red pepper and wild onion.

Next, I added water to the bowl and put it in the microwave for 65 seconds. After I removed the bowl, I recognized that, miraculously, the flecks of veggies and other toppings had indeed reconstituted in the broth to look like actual food! And even though the aroma was still fairly foreign (I’ve never had Tom Yum before), it did smell somewhat appetizing! I spent a minute or so stirring and breaking apart chunks of Play-Doh noodles and then … it was time to eat.

I’ve only ever had one other Annie Chun’s bowl before (Abi: I believe I have you to thank for that as well), and I recall being amazed at the tenderness and utter edibility of these pre-cooked, shelf-stable noodles. This held true again for these Play-Doh-scented noodles. I couldn’t believe how perfectly al dente they ended up being (even if they stuck to each other a bit much).

And all those crazy, fishy, spicy scents from before melded to make a very enjoyable flavor on my tongue. I’ve had other corporate attempts at fusing chilies and lime before and it generally ends up being either too limey or too chili-y. In this soup, those two flavors, along with the fish sauce (as gross as that sounds) and ginger presence combine to bring a satisfying, tangy heat. Even the little flecks of onion, red pepper and — holy crap is that a mushroom? — other veggies added a little something to the experience. It’s not a five-star soup because, well, the veggies are still dehydrated and as much as I’m surprised at the successful flavor integration, I feel that if they could manage to make the broth mixture more hearty, they could squeeze another star out of me. As far as shelf-stable meals go it’s amazing, but I feel as though technology may yield us a more perfect Tom Yum soup before the next decade is out.

All in all, this soup tried really hard to gross me out with its fish sauce and putty noodles, but Annie Chun wins again with an interesting and hearty soup that somehow survives months on end in a pantry. The fish sauce will unfortunately disqualify this for vegetarians and vegans, but the rest of us can marvel at this wholly-natural wonder of modern food science.

[This meal was provided by Annie Chun’s PR people. -Ed.]

comments

8 Responses to “Thai Tom Yum Soup FreshPak Noodle Bowl”

takhys on April 24th, 2008

In my experience, the flavours of Tom Yum took a bit of getting used to (I grew up in a herring and black bread house) but I’m so glad I’ve tried it.

Thanks for letting me know how this one is.
lowderra on April 24th, 2008

Great review! I’ll have to try this. I don’t eat a lot of meat, but fish sauce I could do.

And yeah, the chili and lime is a tough one to get really right.
Mom on April 24th, 2008

Andrew - Just had to let you know how entertaining and humorous your review is. I appreciate the sacrifice you’ve made in the name of science. And yes, fish sauce is an aroma unto intself, but if it were missing I’m sure you’d never have offered up the 4 star rating.
Crow on April 25th, 2008

Annie Chun was found shot to death early this morning in Chicago, another in a string of murders to hit the Windy City. No arrests have been made, and while the police refuse to comment on the investigation, an anonymous source has reported that Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima, know for their anti-Asian activities, are wanted for questioning.
Julie A. on April 25th, 2008

@Crow and anyone who’s bored -

Actually the Pillsbury Doh Boy hasn’t been seen in Minneapolis (site of General Mills HQ) since this event or any of the members of the “Poppin’ Fresh” street gang.
Julie A. on April 25th, 2008

Back on topic.

I learned to love Fish Sauce when there was a huge amount of Hmong immigrants that came to Mpls. during my college days.

At the time I thought it meant Sauce That You Dip Fish In so I was blissfully ignorant. Now I know different and I still love it. For being such a Po-Dunk city, MSP has some really good ethnic food restaurants. Emily’s Lebanese Deli is where I learned to love all things from the Middle East. There used to be Ukrainian Orthodox church there as well that had FANTASTIC perogies every Friday. Hand made by women wearing babushka’s no less. And welding rolling pins no less.
Jill on April 25th, 2008

I love all of Annies… all of the soups!!!
DJ on April 26th, 2008

Where is the new video review?? We’re waiting Semi-patiently. Well, impatiently really.