WhatIF BamNut and Charcoal Noodles - Mushroom Pepper product reviews

Noodles! Take them or leave them - they are just a filler to serve with an otherwise nutritious and tasty meal, aren't they? A snack for a hungry teenager or a staple food item for students on a limited budget? I admit my preconceptions were completely destroyed when I tasted these charcoal noodles. The ingredients were unfamiliar, the appearance was different to say the least - but they were beyond delicious. One taste and I was a convert. Noodles will never be the same again!

My first surprise was the price. Yes, they are quite a lot more expensive than "instant" noodles, and even costlier than alternatives made from konjac or similar foods. But you get what you pay for, and the taste more than compensated for the higher cost. I would happily eat these noodles on their own and still feel I had dined well.

Preparation is simplicity itself. There are fifteen individual flavour sachets in the box, three for each layer of noodles, and although this might appear to be excessive, each sachet has a different purpose. Because they are mixed into the noodles just before serving, the individual effects are more noticeable. One is just a mushroom and pepper seasoning, one is a soy sauce flavour, and one is an oil with combined canola, soybean, and shallot. As the seasonings are supplied separately, one or more can be omitted depending on the recipe you are using. Hydrating the actual noodles is no more difficult than preparing two-minute noodles, and the result is similar: tender but not too soft. In fact, just right!

I was not sure how much I would need to allow for each person, so I started with one noodle cake apiece - and this was about right. (It was so delicious that I could have happily eaten two, but that would have been plain greedy.) As the flavour was mushroom and pepper, I stayed in theme and served mushrooms in coconut cream with strips of barbecued pork over the noodle bed. Even with the real mushroom topping, the noodles held their own flavour-wise. We could certainly taste the extra seasoning, which just added to the overall experience. Three of us (two adults and a teenager) shared the meal, and all voted to try the product again.

The remaining two cakes were used as a base for a bolognese-style sauce. I had made stuffed capsicums for dinner the previous day, using cauliflower rice, sausage meat, and onions as the filling, and poaching them in a home-made tomato broth. There was enough stuffing and tomato juices left over to contribute to another meal for two people. Because I knew that the noodles already had a robust flavour, I did not add anything to the leftovers - just stirred everything together, then reheated the mixture and poured it over the noodle base. Not only could we easily taste the mushroom, but we also noticed the extra capsicum flavour coming through.

If the flavour and versatility were not enough, it is reassuring to find that the noodle ingredients are actually a healthy option. They are low fat, high fibre, and high protein as well as containing less wheat flour than similar noodles; the magic ingredient is the bambara groundnut ("bamnut"), a legume which has been cultivated in parts of Africa for many years. Hopefully we will soon see many more of these products on our supermarket shelves.