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.]

Price: $2.69
Serving: 1/3 kit, 2oz. plus water
Calories: 270
Fat: 11%, 7g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 26%, 620mg
Protein: 10g
Carbs: 13%, 39g
Fiber: 7%, 2g
Sugar: 7g
Weight Watchers Points: 6 Points

Annie Chun says: Celebrate great eating with this satisfying blend of hearty noodles, roasted peanuts and toasted sesame seeds for a dish bursting with rich nutty goodness.

Abi says: Confession: I like Pasta-Roni. Yes, the stepchild of the San Francisco treat is one of my favorite boxed side items. I can do without stovetop stuffing or rice, but promise me some angel hair pasta seasoned with a mysterious powder packet, milk and butter and you’ll have my undivided attention.

I picked up a box of Annie Chun’s Peanut Sesame noodles because I needed a break from those pseudo-Italian cream sauces, but I still wanted some noodles to go along with my meal for the evening: rotisserie chicken and green beans.

The amount of peanut noodles displayed on the plate is between 1/2 and 1/3 of the box (yes, almost a single serving) and while it makes for a tasty, utterly American peanut noodle experience (the sauce can only be described as a pleasant [if boring] blend of peanut, tahini, and some unidentifiable seasonings), it can in no way be construed as a meal. Or even a meal kit. The term ‘kit’ implies that everything I need (minus water) is included in the box.

Ms. Annie Chun suggests that we

Just grab a meal kit, boil the noodles as directed, add sauce, then toss in sauteed vegetables and tofu or chicken and you’re done. Healthy and delicious meals in less than ten minutes.

She seems to believe that we all have some sauteed vegetables and already prepped and cooked chicken just sitting around waiting to be added to our noodles. This is not a “meal kit” this is a “part of a balanced meal kit” that must be served alongside protein and vegetables, making for a colorful dinner that might pass Biggie’s muster. Maybe. She has tough standards.

If this review has inspired you to make your own, homemade peanut noodles and sauce, I recommend this recipe from Epicurious. It makes a terrifically mild starting point, has received raves from my coworkers, and it super easy even if you don’t have a Cuisinart or blender (just warm the peanut butter and it will be easy to blend. I used Thai rice sticks instead of Italian pasta and it was delicious.

Price: $2.00
Serving: 1 Bowl, 4.3 oz.
Calories: 220
Fat: 2%, 1.5g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 38%, 920mg
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 15%, 45g
Fiber: 5%, 1g
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points

Annie Chun says: [My] new FreshPak™ Noodles are full of flavor and offer a wonderfully satisfying texture, much more pleasing than everyday dry noodles. They’re the perfect match for the classic, light Japanese broth of tofu, vegetables and shiitake mushrooms. A traditional Japanese Udon soup, all vegetarian, all delicious!

Adina says: This was truly delicious. I eat a lot of authentic udon noodles from our local Asian market. Plus, I worked at a Japanese restaurant for 3 years. Plus, I’m Asian. All these things can lead you to only one conclusion: this girl knows her udon noodles. And this meal, in all its non-refrigerated fresh packed glory, is good udon noodle soup.

The noodles are firm and chewy, just like in the restaurants. The soup base was a little strong but I think it is because I didn’t put enough water in the bowl. And even as a strong soup base, it packed a lot of mushroom and soy sauce flavor without being predictable. The bok choy and green onions were surprisingly fresh tasting, a miracle in and of itself, considering it came in the form of a giant manufactured seasoned square. An added bonus is that the bowl is biodegradable and the meal is vegetarian. The whole bowl is considered two servings now considered one serving, so when you look at the breakdown, the only downside is the sodium (38%), which is still way less than a regular package of ramen noodles (over 60%). The carbs are at 15%, which I’m willing to accept since I was eating a giant bowl of noodles.

I have only one complaint. This meal is semi-difficult to assemble. It requires you to put hot water in the bowl to loosen the noodles, drain the water, add the soup base and toppings, and then add 1 to 1.5 cups of water and microwave. These steps require you to have access to hot water and possibly even a measuring cup. I don’t want you to think I’m a wimping out on the “Heat” part of this blog, I’m just saying. “Draining” and “measuring” equals cooking in my book.

Otherwise, Annie Chun’s Udon Soup is a delicious, inexpensive, and healthy meal.

Price: $2.69 (on sale)
Serving: 1/2 tray, 3.7 oz.
Calories: 160
Fat: 5%, 3g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 23%, 550mg
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 9%, 28g
Fiber: 6%, 2g

Annie Chun says: This quick meal features my version of the traditional spicy sauce that migrated from India and spread throughout Asia. My Singapore Curry is a classic fusion of ginger, garlic, onion, turmeric and chilis.

Abi says: Before we get into the taste, appearance, and odor of this meal, let me take a stand on the pro-Annie Chun side by stating that biodegradable bowls and/or trays are AWESOME. Why isn’t everyone using biodegradable bowls and/or trays? This is a challenge to
you, Amy’s Kitchen, stop using plastic trays and get on the biodegradable bandwagon!

Ok, now for the actual review.

During lunch I often need to concentrate on finding the flavors and textures hidden in shelf-stable meals. Ok I focus on, flavors, textures, and the outfits on Go Fug Yourself. Today, while trying to enjoy the outrageousness of Tyra Banks’ latest tan and brainstorming ways to get Sabra to send me some Sauteed Eggplant with Crackers To Go, I kept being interrupted by people pondering (quite loudly) why the heck the cube area smelled like a noodle joint.

First, was Kate, with the observation that I was making everything smell like ramen.

“But it isn’t ramen,” I replied “these noodles are steamed and then blanched. Much healthier.” Yes, I read that off of the box.

Kate responded with a look that meant “I really don’t care if it is healthier, your ramen is smelling up the office.”

The next observation came from Randa, sitting beyond the cube walls (still in a cube, but approximately 15 feet from me).

“Is somebody eating Oodles of Noodles?”

While I wish that I was eating Oodles of Noodles (now known as Nooshi, which is a much more respectable name, but still pretty silly), I can’t say that this meal is horrible. Sure, it will make your entire workplace smell like a noodle bar, but the biggest problem is that it is far too expensive ($2.89!) to be just a tray of noodles and sauce. Ok, noodles and sauce and dehydrated vegetables.

Yes, this meal contains ginger, garlic, onion, turmeric, and chilis, but I am wrong in calling it a meal. Really, this is just a side dish. I have decided this for two reasons. The first reason is that it is too texturally boring to be the only thing I’d eat for lunch. The second is that this box supposedly contains two servings. Unfortunately, I had not procured a second lunch item and I just ate the whole box. That was a bad decision that I do not wish you to repeat.

(Another ‘Why did I eat both servings?’ bad decision was been made by Jess, with the Amy’s Kitchen Cheese Enchiladas.)