Today’s review is something I’ve wanted to try for years and now I finally have some: Indomie Mi Goreng Rasa Rendang. Now I love Indomie products, and this one has eluded me for a long time. If you find yourself in Indonesia these are obviously very easy to come by and I have seen lots of Australian websites selling these and lots of other Indomie products that we don’t get here in the States. If this review piques your interest and you want to score these check out eBay or make an online friend somewhere that these are sold. What stinks is that from what I can find this used to be included in Indomie’s assortment of exports to the USA and for some reason that stopped happening several years back.
The Verdict:
| Product: | Indomie Mi Goreng Rasa Rendang |
| Origin: | Indonesia |
| Noodle Quality: | 7/10 |
| Spice Level: | 4/10 |
| Overall Score: | 9.5/10 |
Now the main reason I’m so fascinated by this is I’ve never had Rendang before. The word “rasa” here just means “flavor,” so this is Rendang flavor. But what is Rendang? It’s a spicy beef dish that originated in West Sumatra. Beef is braised in a spiced coconut milk broth until the liquid evaporates and the beef becomes caramelized. Wikipedia says that while many people describe Rendang as a curry, technically that’s not correct since the majority of the liquid gets absorbed or cooked off. Now I’m not going to assume that I’ll get all of that slow cooked beef goodness in this pack of noodles but still I love trying new foods especially something as appealing as a spicy beef almost curry.
Inside this pack we’ve got 1100 mg of sodium but this is a jumbo size bag, which I am really appreciative for. My only big complaint about Indomie has always has been how small the portions are. We don’t really get the jumbo packs in the US that I’ve ever found, so this is great.
Inside the pack we’ve got a larger block of Indomie noodles than I’ve ever seen before, which unfortunately did not survive international shipping in one piece, and we have multiple seasoning packets which is the norm for Indomie Mi Goreng products. We’ve got kecap manis which is the sweet soy sauce concoction that you get in Mi Goreng usually. We have a seasoning oil, seasoning powder, chili powder and a very interesting packet of dried toppings. Now I’m relying on Google Translate for all of this but this does appear to be vegan. It is certified Halal and the beef flavor in here is artificial. So all told you got some very familiar Mi Goreng flavors with Rendang spices and the dried toppings packet is a textured vegetable protein that’s been marinated in a flavoring oil.
After assembling the sauce ingredients, the aroma strikes me first with the sweet soy sauce along with the seasoning oil which is spicy and very chili forward but also with a hit of citrus to it, which I really wasn’t expecting. Really nice. The seasoning powder smells of a very sweet blend of coconut and some curry spices. The chili powder smells just like a pretty straightforward peppery seasoning blend kind of close to what’s in Mi Goreng Hot and Spicy if not the exact same thing.
Noodles:
Typical Indomie noodles: thin, hearty, decent chew, a good amount of them thanks to them being in the jumbo bag.
• 7/10
Spiciness:
It’s maybe on par with the Mi Goreng Hot and Spicy variety, a little hotter than the regular and the barbecue chicken ones. Still kind of on the low end of what I would consider a medium spice. It’s a pleasant little burn.
• 4/10
Overall:
I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this. It’s a really interesting blend of spices and I’m pretty sure I love it. There’s a citrus element which might be lime or lemongrass or both. It’s got that artificial beef powder giving it a really savory umami element, and then we’ve got coconut and some of the less bitter spices that you would find in an Asian curry. So I’m getting what I think is maybe cinnamon and cardamom, not cumin. There’s possibly something else sweet in there like anise or fennel. But it comes across as a really neat blend of savory, spicy and sweet, and I’ve had quite a wide variety of spice blends on this channel at this point but I’ve never quite had anything like this and it’s really tasty. I also like the extra crunch from the little vegetable protein chunks in here, which gives it a really nice texture. There’s also possibly mint in this, it’s hard to say. Whatever is going on here, it’s a really unique combination of spices. It’s got a nice texture. My only usual complaint about Indomie is the size of the bag; since this was a jumbo I can’t even dock points for that. So I guess the only complaint I have is this isn’t something I would probably want to eat as frequently as some of the other Indomie flavors but all in all what a solid product. I really wish I had another bag of this for a future meal but sadly this was my only one.
• 9.5/10
