Ve Wong Chicken & Pork Flavor Instant Noodle

Ve Wong is one of those Taiwanese brands you’ll find at basically every Asian grocery. This one is their Chicken & Pork flavor, and the package is mostly Chinese characters, with the name “Pai Gu Ji” translating roughly to pork chop chicken. Chicken and pork in one packet is a big promise, so I wanted to see what you actually get.

Produced in Taiwan.

What’s in the Package

Inside the foil pouch is a square block of thin wavy wheat noodles, a silver seasoning powder packet, and a small red oil packet.

How to Cook Ve Wong Chicken & Pork Flavor Instant Noodle

1. Place the noodles and both seasoning packets into a bowl.
2. Pour in about 430ml of boiling water, cover, and let it steep for 3 minutes.
3. Stir well before serving. You can also cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes with the seasonings stirred in at the end.

How Does It Taste

The broth is oily in a good way and sits right in the Taiwanese chicken noodle soup weight class. It’s basically Kung Fu Noodle’s rival. If you’ve had any of the Taiwanese chicken or pork bone shelf noodles, this profile is going to feel familiar.

That said, the flavor is bland and salty at the same time, which is a tough combination. There’s a faint sweetness underneath but nothing that makes the bowl feel finished on its own. I went looking for that pork chop chicken flavor and didn’t really find it. Neither did James. It tastes more like generic imitation-meat bouillon than any specific pork chop chicken broth.

The chili oil packet is where it lost me. James described it as a stale-tasting red pepper oil that doesn’t add heat so much as it adds an off note. I’d skip it entirely. The noodles are thin and fine in texture, nothing to complain about there.

How Does It Compare

This one sits in the same Taiwanese pork-and-chicken lane as the Ve Wong Sesame Chicken Flavor Noodle Soup and the Ve Wong Oriental Style Vegetarian, but it’s the blandest of the Ve Wong lineup I’ve tried.

The Ve Wong Spicy Beef Noodles has more going on and a cleaner chili packet. If you want a Taiwanese shelf noodle with personality, reach for the Sesame Chicken or Spicy Beef. If you want a plain base to build on, this works.

How to Level Up Ve Wong Chicken & Pork Flavor Instant Noodle

First, add more water. The broth runs very salty as-is, and an extra 100ml make sit more balanced.

This is a good bowl to build protein into. Add some rotisserie chicken and a few slices of chicken thigh.

A handful of napa cabbage is the other easy add. It softens the saltiness, adds body, and fits the Taiwanese noodle soup tradition this bowl is pointing at.

Final Verdict

The Ve Wong Chicken & Pork Flavor Instant Noodle is a basic Taiwanese chicken-pork shelf noodle that comes out more bland than flavorful straight from the bag. The chili oil packet is a miss and the broth needs dilution and toppings to really come together. Not one I’d go out of my way to buy, but a decent quick meal base if you’ve already got cooked chicken and cabbage in the fridge.

How do I rate my ramen? Check out the Ramen Rating Guide.

Related Instant Ramen

• Ve Wong Sesame Chicken Flavor Noodle Soup
• Ve Wong Oriental Style Instant Noodles Vegetarian
• Ve Wong Spicy Beef Noodles
• Han Baw Black Pepper Beef Flavor Noodles
• Han Baw Oyster Flavor Noodles

Where to buy Ve Wong Chicken & Pork Flavor Instant Noodle

• Amazon

More to Try

• More from Ve Wong: Ve Wong Spicy Beef Noodles, Ve Wong Sesame Chicken Flavor Noodle Soup
• Topping pairing: How to Cook Soft-Boiled Eggs for Ramen
• Recipe to try: Long Life Noodles