DIY: Taiwan Instant Beef Noodles: Probably the best instant beef noodles in the world

As a departure from posts on hawker food, I decided to write about comfort food which is close to my heart : Instant noodles! To be more specific: instant beef noodles from Taiwan. What's so great about instant noodles from Taiwan you might ask? 
My first exposure to Taiwan began in 1996 when I was posted to Taiwan for a month for overseas training in the army. We weren't allowed to roam out of the camp so our only source of food (other than that served in the cafeteria) was the supermarket in the army camp. It was there that I came across instant bowl noodles with real meat (not the freeze dried crap you get in most bowl noodles) in the package. Fast forward to 2011, I recently came back from my honeymoon in Taiwan with the packet variation (same content but without the styrofoam bowl) of the beef noodles. You can fit more of these into your luggage than the bowls.
Here's what the packet looks like: 

 You can get them singly or in packs of 3. What's inside the packet? 

Clockwise from left: Noodles, Soup stock powder (purple pack), Chilli paste (the transparent pack with the reddish brown goo) and last but not least, the red foil pouch which contains the actual beef.
Step by Step guide showing how easy it is to cook these noodles:
1. Heat water in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, then put in the noodles

 The next few steps (2 to 4) do not have to happen in any particular order. 
2. Add chilli to the bowl (add according to taste or omit if you can't take it spicy)

 3.Add the stock powder to the bowl

4. Open the red packet which contains the beef and add it to the bowl

5. Now that all the ingredients have been added, make sure the noodles in the saucepan have loosened up and are cooked (usually about 2 to 3 minutes). Then pour the noodles and hot water into the bowl and stir the mixture to make sure the powder and chilli are evenly mixed into the soup. Lo and behold, you have a thing of beauty!

*The styrofoam bowl version is prepared differently: You first open the bowl cover halfway, empty the chilli and soup stock powder onto the noodles then add the boiling water(500ml) to the noodles in the bowl. Then you close the cover and place the beef pouch on top of the bowl. The logic is the heat from below the cover will heat the meat in the pouch. After 3 minutes, open the pouch of beef and add it to the noodles. Mix well and enjoy!

** I prepared the noodles differently here as I didn't have a bowl to gauge the 500ml of water. The trick is not to add too much water as the soup will be too watered down and tasteless so I controlled the amount of water I poured back into the bowl to ensure the soup was just right.

Taste Verdict: Still tastes very much like how I remember it. Soup is peppery even without the chilli paste. The beef is soft and tender but is less than what they used to give. Still a killer combination! My mom and youngest sis can attest to that. They polished off 2 packets each in a week and chided me for not getting more.

Other similar packets that I bought back:
A different brand of Beef noodles: 

Yup, you read right, they got pork too. Kong Ba Noodles

Another type of pork noodles

Each packet costs less than S$3 and can be found in any convenience store and supermarket in Taiwan. They have a maximum shelf life of up to 6 months (please check the expiry date on the packet). The bowl versions are very popular "dine-in" food at the local convenience stores like 7 Eleven and Family Mart.
Unfortunately, you can't get these easily in Singapore. They used to bring in the bowl versions in the 90s but they have been banned from import for the last decade or so. I just found out that the ban of meat products from Taiwan is due to a FMD (Foot Mouth Disease) outbreak that happened in there. See below link for full article: 
AVA:Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak in Taiwan
NTUC Fairprice does sell the bowl versions with eel (S$3.50 per bowl) but I'm not a big fan of eel. So for the time being, these will remain elusive unless you are willing to pay close to S$4 per bowl from people (you can google for it) who are selling what they got back from Taiwan or trouble a colleague or family member to lug back a few cartons for you. 


Forbidden fruit does taste sweeter!