Penang White Curry Instant Noodles - Ah Lai VS My Kuali

We were supposed to be on board a plane bound for Singapore earlier today but due to unforeseen circumstances yada yada yada, the flight has been delayed for 7 hours. Thankfully I'm not a tourist stranded in the not-too-entertaining airport, else you might hear a very long string of vulgarities coming from me. Opps. Hahaha..

Since most of the perishable food had been cleared from the fridge, instant noodles is the logical choice for a quick lunch. Just so happened recently, a friend passed us a packet each of 2 different brands of Penang White Curry instant noodles. Call me "sua gu", I know that Penang White Curry instant noodles has been very popular for sometime and even went out of stock from the supermarkets some time earlier this year, but I never had the chance to try some. Blessing in disguise then, the flight delay gave me the chance to prepare the famous Penang White Curry instant noodles. Both brands were prepared according to their respective recommended amount of water and cooking time in similar pots and conditions.

槟城阿来白咖喱面 (Ah Lai White Curry Noodles)

• "Curry soup" remains relatively clear, not too thick
• More fragrant, as if perfumed with lemongrass (updated: statement confirmed. lemongrass is included in ingredient list)
• Tastes like a sweeter Thai based curry
• Noodles tastes like the usual instant noodles, nothing memorable yet nothing bad

My Kuali 槟城白咖喱面 (My Kuali Penang White Curry Noodles)

• "Curry soup" is thicker, and resembles more of a curry
• More lemak and spicier
• Slightly oilier
• Chewy noodles with a slight ghee taste, remains chewy even after a while

Personal Conclusion:

In terms of the soup base, I am clearly torn between the 2. I kept going back and forth, drinking water in between till I got super bloated. They both have their unique selling point and tastes just as great. It's really hard to crown one of them as the "better-tasting" soup.

In terms of noodles, MyKuali's has a better "bite", chewier noodles almost akin to "al dente", that remained firm even after swimming in the soup for a while. But there is a ghee taste which I find hard to stomach (personal biasity, I dislike ghee). There's nothing to rave about 阿来's noodles but nothing to fault either, it tastes simply like the usual instant noodles. It did turn soft and lifeless after a while but as far as I'm concerned, instant noodles are supposed to be eaten while hot so I decided to overlook that limp noodles.

Factoring both major components, I would opt for 阿来 as an overall winner. Although its noodles is not especially tasty but it won mainly due to the absence of ghee taste. If I really really really have to buy just 1 out of the 2 brands, my money will go to 阿来 but in reality, I'll just buy both. 

On a side note, the curious empirical mind within couldn't help but wonder how the 2 soups will taste like together, so we mixed both soups and agreed it was the best. LOL. 

Kindly note that the conclusion is knowingly skewed to my personal preference, and does not represents the views of others. =) Back to waiting for the flight now, see you guys at home!

Update (26th October 2014):
Big thanks to both Ah Lai and My Kuali for dropping by to say thanks. It feels good to have my online presence acknowledged by the involved brands. However, the uncanny time difference of 1 minute between both comment suggests that either both company engaged the same marketing personnel (or social media manager) or both are using a sophisticated program that tracks each others' online presence. Although the most probable explanation would be having a very capable marketing department or some business-savvy manager/director/(insert desired designation) within the senior management, someone who understands the importance of market segmentation and highly proficient in developing very effective product differentiation strategies. There is a possibility of people posing as someone from the brands, but nah, who would have the spare time to do such a thing?

Again, kindly note that the above is based on my personal inference, I did not seek verification from either brands. I'm just blabbering nonsense while taking a break from writing another post. Heehee... the above should not be taken as absolute truth. Regardless, both products are superb and addictive delicious in their own sense, that's why we got to do comparisons and reviews! A big thumbs up to the dedicated teams of the respective brands! 

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