Kang Shi Fu Artificial Chicken Flavor with Mushroom Noodles Review | Noodle Journey

Kang Shi Fu Artificial Chicken Flavor with Mushroom Noodles is another flavor from Kang Shi Fu that appears to be very similar to the JML flavor with a similar name that I reviewed a while back. I have so far enjoyed Kang Shi Fu’s noodles and flavors moreso than the couple of bowls I’ve tried from JML, so read on to see if this one continues the trend.

The Verdict:

You can find this bowl online at sites like Yami.com, or just head on down to your nearest Asian market and there is a very good chance you will spot this. Kang Shi Fu has a massive global export presence, so if this flavor tickles your fancy, it’s not hard to find. They’re also fairly cheap; I paid about $1.49 for this bowl, and that is a pretty good value based on the serving size.

Opening the bowl, you can see from the photo above that we have the usual Kang Shi Fu combo of noodles, liquid sauce, soup powder, and dried condiments. In the sauce, you’ve got palm oil, sesame oil, ginger, and natural & artificial flavoring that contains peanuts. In the soup, there’s salt, MSG, sugar, non-dairy creamer, artificial flavoring, and “spices.” The dried flakes are mushroom, carrot, and scallion. Yes, you read that correctly: neither the sauce nor the soup specifically list mushrooms as an ingredient despite the flavor being mushroom. I can’t imagine that the dried mushrooms are the only mushroom element, so there must be some mushroom-esque flavors hiding in the “natural and artificial flavors” or “spices.” Sodium is surprisingly light for a Kang Shi Fu bowl, but it’s still pretty well on the high side of things: 2010mg. I’ll be amazed if I ever see one of these below 2000mg.

Noodles:

No different than the other flavors I’ve had from this brand. A thin, firm mouthfeel but doesn’t cling to the broth as much as I’d like.

• 6/10

Spiciness:

I detected a very slight hint of what was possibly white pepper, but I still wouldn’t call this spicy in the slightest.

• 0/10

Overall:

It’s been quite a while since I ate the equivalent of this flavor from JML, but going into this review, I assumed this version from Kang Shi Fu would be more or less a copy of that recipe (or vice versa, whichever came first). But based off of my recollection the flavor profile in this Kang Shi Fu bowl is different – it leans much more heavily in the mushroom-flavor direction than in the chicken broth direction. My concern about artificial mushroom flavor that I mentioned above was valid – there is something sort of mushroom-esque in here that doesn’t 100% taste like mushrooms, but I still liked it. For some people, I could see this flavor profile being too “earthy” but if you’re a mushroom lover, you’re probably going to enjoy this. I also got a slight whiff of something in the powder packet that I believe was ginger that was unfortunately not as prevalent in the broth as I would have liked, and I found some light hints of garlic amidst all of the umami. Unfortunately the artificial chicken flavor was far too artificial to register as chicken to me and came across more like a mushroom broth with a lot of MSG in it – and I don’t mean that in a negative way, since I find a mushroom-heavy MSG flavor to still be in the realm of a nice comfort food. Broth consistency was slightly creamy with a little bit of an oily finish that I enjoyed. The dried vegetable pieces were pretty generous and cooked up nicely with a four-minute steep. All in all, not the most exciting flavor but definitely a sizable, savory bowl of noodles. Just watch out for the salt content in this if you’re someone who likes to drink all the broth.

• 7/10

Continuing the Journey

• If you want an extra dose of mushroom flavor in this, consider adding Ramen Bae Dried Enoki Mushroom.
• For a spicy beef option from this brand, check out my review of Kang Shi Fu Hot & Spicy Artificial Beef Flavor Noodles.
• If you can’t get enough earthy fungus flavor, Samyang Buldak Truffle Spicy Ramen might pique your interest.