Tean's Gourmet Prawn Noodle Paste (200 g)

  This is a paste used as a base to prepare the typical Malaysian dish Mee Udang, which is a prawn and/or meat and veggies soup. The main flavouring ingredients are soy bean oil, dried shrimp paste, galangal, chilly and garlic among others.

This is a simple but flavour-packed fast dish. The soup is wonderful on its own without any add-on. However, if you prepare the full dish, you'll get a kind of instant noodles dish mostly made out of fresh ingredients. I think it is also great to use with leftover cooked meat.

It tastes authentic to me. It has a clean fishy flavour with the galangal adding the counterbalancing citrusy astringent flavour and the garlic and chilly the spicy punch. I didn't find this hot at all, not even medium hot.  On the other hand this paste is really oily,, and it is soya bean oil, so nothing for people with delicate stomachs. You can remove a bit of it with a spoon when resting though.

Preparation: Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil and add the whole paste packet in. Stir and let it boil for about ten minutes. On the side add to a bowl your precooked instant noodles, cooked prawn and/or meat, some veggies. Pour the soup into the bowl and voila.

Great value for money and the sachet does not need refrigeration

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Vegeta Chicken Stock Powder 200 gms

This is a staple in my kitchen pantry. There are many reasons for it. The first is that this is large good-value jar with plenty of product in it. The second is that the flavor is good so it lifts all the dishes I add it to; it has a good amount of salt (even if the jar says 'reduced') so I don't add salt to my dishes if I'm using this stock powder. The third is that, as it is powder, not cubes, I can add the right amount of product without wasting anything.  Fourth, the inner foil-lining keeps the product fresh and aromatic for a long time and the jar lasts me for months. Fifth and last, it has no MSG.
 
DOWNSIDES
Barely any chicken in it (1%). It's mostly veggies, spices, fats and oils, as per the list of ingredients on the jar back. Also it is sold as 'no added flavours' but the list of ingredients shows 'flavour (chicken)' so what does this mean?
 
It tends to solidify after using a wet spoon or after a long time of no use, but the 'caking' is easily broken down with a fork.
 
The jar small lettering is barely legible due to the lack of contrast between the lettering and the yellow background so I use a magnifying glass to read anything written in it.
 
MIND
I don't use to drink it, just as a cooking condiment, so I cannot comment on the taste as a drinkable broth.

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G-Fresh G-Fresh Himalayan Pink Salt, 100 g

This is a good Himalayan pink salt, in a  good-quality plastic grinder at a great price. My only 'but' is not the salt per se, which is good, but the container cap. The grinder cap cannot be unscrewed, something I wanted to empty out one of the jars I bought; however, I had to cut the container jar body with a sharp knife for me able to do so. For the rest, very happy with the product quality and price.

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G-Fresh Cinnamon Sugar, 160 g

This is a yummy cinnamon sugar that I add to my butter toast to turn it from average to yummy. I love the fact that isn't overly sugary and that the ground is very fine so it's a pleasure to eat. The jar is really generous for the price, too. 

 

My main two cons are 1/ that the dispenser doesn't have a fine sieve , just 4 big holes so it is good for baking but not so much for toasts or small deserts on a plate, so I have to be careful when I use it. 2/ There is no list of ingredients on the jar, which is a must as per the Australian food administration regulations. Yes, for sure, there is sugar and cinnamon, but in which proportions? Anything else added? Preservatives or anti-caking? Any allergenic? Like the label needs to be updated or a sticker added.

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