Maggi noodles

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Maggi noodles is a brand of instant noodles manufactured by Nestle. The brand is popular in India, South Africa,Brazil, Nepal, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines; in several countries it is also known as "maggi mee". Maggi noodles are part of the Maggi family, a Nestlé brand of instant soups, stocks and noodles. In Malaysia, there are fried noodles made from maggi noodles known as Maggi goreng. Maggi noodles recently introduced a new variety of its noodles, to cater for the health conscious like 'No MSG', 'Less Salt' and 'No Trans fat'. A wholewheat flour based noodle variation marketed by the name "Vegetable Atta Noodles" has been introduced in India (Atta flour is used in preparing most forms of wheat based breads in India) and caters to health conscious buyers wary of the refined flour used in the regular Maggi noodles. This move helps the brand in India as suburban mothers, who feed the noodles to children as an afterschool snack, are the primary customers of the brand. Recently a line of Rice noodles has also been introduced in India. In fact, "Maggi" has become a genericized name for instant noodles in India and Malaysia.

Contents

[edit] Preparation

Maggi noodles take around 2 minutes to cook, hence the name "2 minute noodles". The Maggi noodle cake and seasoning is added into boiling water for two minutes and it is ready for consumption. Egg, seaweed or lemon can also be added to the noodles for a better flavour.

[edit] Flavours and Variety

Maggi Packet available in GCC
Maggi Packet available in GCC

Maggi is available in many large assortments of different flavours. They are:

  • Original Flavour
  • Chicken
  • Curry (a healthier alternative is also sold in supermarkets)
  • Kari Letup (Extremely Spicy Curry) in Malaysia
  • Laksa Lemak (discontinued)
  • Tom yam
  • Chicken & Corn
  • Beef
  • Oriental
  • Masala
  • Prawn
  • Dal Sambar ( whole wheat noodles )
  • Asam Laksa
  • Cheese
  • Pizza (only in Saudi Arabia, was available for a period of time in Australia.)
  • Sup Tulang (bone soup) (in Malaysia)
  • Chatpata
  • Tomato
  • Stronger Chicken
  • Vegetable Atta Noodles ( whole wheat noodles )
  • Shahi Pulao ( rice noodles )
  • Chilly Chow ( rice noodles )
  • Lemon Masala ( rice noodles)
  • Mi Goreng Char Mee
  • Mi Goreng Kicap Bawang
  • Mi Goreng Pluz Asli
  • Mi Goreng Asli Pedas

Maggi noodles also produces cup noodles known as "Hot Bowl", and sells cup noodles branded "Cuppa Mania" in India.

[edit] Trivia

  • The "mee maggi" nickname also served as the inspiration title for the Singaporean situation comedy/fantasy series "Maggi & Me," which debuted in July 2006.
  • The term "maggi mee" is so popular in Malaysia and Singapore that many other brands of instant noodles are collectively known as Maggi Mee.

[edit] Reputation and Competition

In countries like Australia and New Zealand, due to a large South-East Asian influence, instant noodles tend to be eaten by a large area of the populace. As such, there is a large amount of competition in the market. While Maggi is arguably the most popular of all noodle brands (and tends to get its own section in supermarkets), it also has a reputation for being too dull and tasteless.

Its main competitors tend to be Mi Goreng noodles, which are significantly cheaper and spicier, as well as products from Trident, Nissin Foods and Nong Shim. Most standard supermarkets in Australia stock a large range of both instant and freeze dried ramen which, thanks to proximity, are all directly imported from countries like Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. Asian supermarkets have even larger ranges, including flavours not stocked in traditional stores.

[edit] See also