Noodle Journey Episode 124: JML Instant Noodle Artificial Mushroom Chicken Flavour

Today, I’m checking out a new-to-me Chinese noodle company called JML ( short for JinMaiLang), with their Instant Noodle Artificial Mushroom Chicken Flavour. I’m going into this one with a specific curiosity: there’s been a big swing toward artificial meat flavors in products exported to the U.S., largely because importing real-meat noodle packs is difficult under USDA rules. In practice, “meat” gets approximated with yeast extract, maltodextrin, soy protein, and similar additives – sometimes convincingly, sometimes not – so I’m treating this as a flavor exercise first and seeing where it lands.

I paid $2.79 for this cup at my local Asian market. It is also available as a pillow pack and is pretty easy to find online. There are some people claiming that the pillow-pack noodles are better than the cup, which is not surprising and means I may have to revisit this flavor if I like it. Sodium is extremely high at 2,523mg. Inside the cup, there’s a round noodle block, powdered seasoning, liquid seasoning pouch, and a dried vegetable packet. The powder brings the artificial “meat” base plus mushroom, onion, sugar, turmeric, garlic, and a thickener. The liquid pouch is palm oil with garlic, scallion, sesame, and rice wine. The dried vegetables are mushrooms, carrots, and scallions. There are no obvious animal products listed; it’s probably vegetarian and could be vegan, so doublecheck the label as usual if that matters to you. Oddly, there are no cooking directions on the cup, which I’ve learned is typical of many Chinese brands, so to cook this: add all packets to the cup, fill to the line with boiling water, and steep for four minutes.

Noodles:
Four minutes feels a touch long here. The texture turns soft and a bit brittle, and it keeps softening as it sits. I expect three minutes would help, and the pillow-pack version may be better.
• 4.5/10

Spiciness:
No chili heat at all.
• 0/10

Overall:
The broth does what the label promises, but it leans far more chicken than mushroom. Salt is assertive in a good way, onion is up front, and there’s a surprising amount of garlic that I appreciate. Sesame oil and rice wine really bring some excellent flavor pops, with the sesame oil bringing a nutty depth and an oily finish, while the rice wine adds a little sweetness and acidity that pushes this beyond “plain chicken noodle.” The mushroom pieces rehydrated firm and tasty, and the carrots have a pleasing bite. The artificial chicken note is still obviously artificial, and the noodle quality holds this back, but the overall flavor is genuinely enjoyable and what I would consider above a typical chicken ramen cup. It is a healthy portion, it smells like chicken broth with sesame, and it tastes like a souped-up chicken-and-mushroom cup that I would be fine buying again, especially to compare against the pillow pack.
• 7/10