This is a review of an instant bowl noodle that has GREEN noodles and lots of cilantro and coriander. This is the Baixiang Spicy Beef Flavour Coriander Stir Fry Noodle Bowl and it is not to be mistaken with the bag noodle version of this product which is a soup. This version has you draining the water to make it more like stir fry noodles and I suspect it is tastier than the soup version.
Before I continue, lets talk about coriander. Coriander and cilantro come from the same plant (Coriandrum Sativum), but they refer to different parts! Cilantro refers to the fresh, bright green leaves and stems (like flat parsley), while coriander refers to the plant's dried, round, beige seeds. This fried noodle dish incorporates cilantro into the noodles to make them green and gives you TWO PACKETS of dried cilantro to throw on top and also has coriander spice in it. There is a lot of cilantro in this dish!
I'm not sure if these are an instant version of an existing Chinese dish, but coriander (cilantro) and fried green noodles often refer to aromatic, herb-forward stir-fry or dipping dishes. These dishes combine fresh, grassy notes with spicy oil, garlic, and vinegar. There is something called Cilantro Belt Noodles (Xi'an/Shaanxi Style) which is a specialty from Shaanxi province where cilantro is integrated directly into the broad/flat noodles or served as a prominent side. In these dishes, the dough is often made with a cilantro purée, or the dish is heavily garnished with fresh coriander. The noodles in this bowl are not broad though, being more like green ramen noodles.
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| The lid of the spicy beef coriander noodle bowl. It is very green, and it isn't just the amount of coriander in the picture! Directions are in the right hand corner area. All other information is on this lid from the ingredients, manufacturing information, nutritional info, etc. |
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| A 3/4 view of the instant noodle bowl. Even the bowl is green. I saw all of the cilantro aka coriander piled on top of the noodles and thought I had to try this one! If you don't like cilantro, you won't like this. |
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| Contents of the noodle bowl. You get 2 packets of dried cilantro and a pouch of chili beef sauce. I always like the fact that a little fork is often included in Chinese noodles. |
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| The inside of the bowl is white - not green! However, the noodles have a greenish tinge from the cilantro incorporated into them. |
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| The noodles are pretty much you normal noodle block with a Hulk-type greenish colour. |
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| I added boiling water to the noodles to rehydrate them for 3 - 4 minutes. Then you can use the drain hole in the lid or carefully pour out all the water. This isn't a soup, but more like a fried noodle. I then added the dried cilantro and chili oil. There was a nice fragrant cilantro smell to the herb. |
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| You give everything a thorough mix. It is amazing that the cilantro gets incorporated so well! |
After all this prep I was stoked to try these noodles. I really like the fact that there is lots of cilantro as instant noodles don't often come with a lot of veggies or meat. This noodles had a top herbal note that blended well with the beef chili sauce. I didn't find it too spicy, more of medium heat with a light beef flavour, and there was the definite cilantro note with most mouthfuls. The noodles are a medium thick noodle that hydrated well with a typical bite and chew. I found this noodle dish to be flavourful and very different from the typical fried instant noodle. I think I would get this again if I see it.
One last note: There are other reviews online, but they review the bag noodle version which is a soup noodle and people say it is peppery, but I didn't get that out of this version of the noodle.
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| Closeup of the noodles with coriander/cilantro. |
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