Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle Soup 6 Kinds of Mushrooms – 6 Kinds of Delicious
Written: Apr 21 '09 (Updated Apr 21 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Great flavor, low calorie, nice texture, quick preperation.
Cons: none.
The Bottom Line: Long Kow's Crystal Noodle Soup 6 Kinds of Mushrooms is a delicious, low calorie meal that can be made in three minutes.
|
|
|
| mongkut's Full Review: Long Kow Crystal Noodle Soup 6 Mushroom |
Instant noodle soups have the reputation as being the food of poor college students or cube farm office workers. They’re quick, cheap, and reasonably filling if not overly nutritious. I’ve loved these things ever since a Japanese exchange student staying with my parents back in the 70s introduced me to real ramen noodles. This also created a bit of a problem because back then there were few options available here in the US. Even today with dozens of varieties on supermarket shelves I find that most are disappointingly bland or taste like freeze dried survival food.
Thankfully Asian markets abound in our area and offering authentic noodle soups from all over Asia. Last month I reviewed a yummy, although not overly healthy, spicy tofu soup from Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle. Today I’m reviewing an equally delicious soup from the same manufacturer that also happens to be pretty darn healthy.
The Soup
Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle Soup is an instant cup of noodle style soup that uses low calorie bean thread, or cellophane, noodles instead of rice or wheat flour noodles. Typically made with mung beans and often include, as is the case with Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle, potato starch. Bean thread noodles are preferable to wheat noodles like ramen for those with gluten allergies and are less than half the calories.
Since this is a cup of soup style product the container is designed to be both the cooking and eating vessel. With the wrapped removed the plastic lid lifts off revealing a brick like pouch containing the soup base and dried mushrooms. The cooking directions on the container are simple to follow and it only takes three minutes for the soup to steep. At a scant 190 calories with only 10 calories from fat this is truly a low calorie meal.
The six varieties of mushrooms include three that are very popular in Japan, enoki, nameko, and maitake mushrooms. The manufacturer states on their website that this soup is a big seller in Japan, probably due to the inclusion of these mushrooms. In traditional Asian medicine these mushrooms also have many purported health benefits including blood pressure moderation and cancer prevention. I don’t know if that is true but it’s nice to think eating this might be good for you.
My Experience
Unlike the spicy tofu noodles, the flavor of the 6 mushroom variety is much more subdued. It’s a very different experience both in terms of taste and texture. The flavor is very earthy and each of the 6 mushrooms has a distinct flavor that is really nice and a bit surprising in a freeze dried product. The texture of the mushrooms is equally good and they combine really well with the gelatinous noodles. I was prepared for this soup to be too bland but there is a subtle bit of heat which rounds out the flavor and adds a warming nature to the soup.
Even though the soup packs only 190 calories it is really filling. I have this for lunch a couple times a month and it always leaves me satisfied. Whether for a snack or a meal Long Kow’s Crystal Noodle Soup 6 Kinds of Mushrooms is a nice low calorie way to satisfy your hunger.
Directions
1. Remove seal on top and open cover.
2. Remove soup packet.
3. Open soup packet, put on top of noodle.
4. Fill with boiling water to 1 inch of top.
5. Put cover back and wait 3 minutes.
6. Remove cover, stir well with sesame paste and serve.
Ingredients
Noodles: Bean Starch, Potato Starch.
Soup Base: Oyster Mushroom, Nameko Mushroom, Chinese Mushroom, Enokidake Mushroom, Egg, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans, Wheat, Salt), Welsh Onion, Chicken Extract, Salt, Sugar, Cloud Ear Mushroom, Maitake Mushroom, Lactose, King Oyster Mushroom (Eryngii), Gelatin, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Monosodium Glutamate, Potato Starch, Black Pepper, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Carotenoids, Disodium Succinate, Natural Vitamin E as Antioxidant.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 container Servings Per Container: 1
Calories 190 / Calories from Fat 10
Amount Per Serving and/or % Daily Value*
Total Fat 1 g (2%) / Saturated Fat 0 g (0%) / Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 15 mg (6%) / Sodium 1270 mg (53%) / Total Carbohydrate 43 g (14%)
Dietary Fiber 4 g (15%) / Sugars 2 g / Protein 3 g
Vitamin A 6% / Vitamin C 0% / Calcium 2% / Iron 8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.