In today’s blog, I’ll be writing a review instead of my usual long ass story time.
So, let’s jump right into it :D
I’ll be reviewing the recently very popular Hai Di Lao Instant ricepot (?) and the Hai Di Lao Soup Base. I’m pretty sure you’ve seen it literally everywhere and I’m just here to give my honest opinion about them. For those of you who DON'T know what they are, I’ll insert some pictures to save you some confusion. NO, It’s not the Haidilao restaurant that you have to queue up to eat.
You can buy these off the shelves or online and enjoy them at home.
I’ve tried both the soup packets and the all in one set with the rice and meat (the ricepot i suppose), so I guess I’m qualified to give a review on them. But, I didn’t actually try ALL the flavours out there so I’ll just be reviewing the ones I’ve tasted before. And I’ll be reviewing them in terms of preparing, taste, and idk packaging maybe? HAHA
I’ll start by reviewing the soup packets first.
There’s actually a lot of flavours to choose from, examples are, tomato, seafood, mushroom, spicy ones, mala ones and of course the normal broth that I like best. I’m pretty sure there’s much more than the ones I’ve listed.
I think these are the available flavours.
The original broth soup pack (first row, last one) is my favorite because It has a very thick herb taste. You can add some meat into the broth to make it taste richer or you can just boil it and drink it just like that. I personally boiled it without adding meat and I occasionally add in some noodles and I’ll be done with a meal. If you’re someone who likes to have some side dishes, add and egg or whatever you want.
Now let’s talk about the prices of these items. I’m aware that they are often sold at supermarkets and they cost about RM14 although I’ve seen some sold at RM15 or even RM17+. MY GOSH just get it online, It costs me only about RM7. HAHAH unless you’re in need of some really good soup base, then feel free to buy them from the shelves.
Different flavours come in different packaging. Not from the outside but from the inside. Well the outside packaging as well but, u get my meaning. For the original soup broth, it came with 4 separate packaging inside. There was the powder, the paste, the oil, and the herbs. The thing that I like about this particular flavour it’s because of the way it is packed. It’s actually quite the big serving as you can see from the packaging outside. They state that one packet can serve up to 5 individuals. SO, the powder type of packaging is literally a LIFESAVER because I can just put in a portion of the ingredients and keep the others for next time. The seafood and tomato flavours come in liquid form. Conclusion, I prefer powder ones over the liquid ones because its easier to be kept.
I’ve had it steamboat style where I bought the usual steamboat ingredients like fishballs, eggs, fishcakes, tofu, noodles, egg etc. I just think that it is a very neat food product that saves time and money. (saves the queuing time lol) For me, I don’t mind not eating the actual Hai Di Lao that is served in the restaurants because I think these instant soup bases saves more time and is more affordable. Well, it’s totally up to your preferences. ;)
Now, onto the pot thing.
Same with the soup bases, there are also different types that you can choose from and to be honest the packaging of the pot is quite intriguing. It is quite a big box compared to the small soup packages. I’ve only tried one flavour (because it aint cheap) the flavour I bought is Japanese curry beef rice set (I named it myself without checking the internet, so don’t judge)
Yea it is easy to prepare and quite fun while preparing it, I actually filmed a video for when I first tried preparing the fancy looking thingamajig. Watch me almost messing up the process HAHAH.
and..mind the backgroud HAHAHA
Sorry HaiDiLao, but I’ll be giving my honest opinion here. I don’t really fancy the RicePot.
First off the rice taste like rubber. I know, I know, I cant expect real rice to be cooked in such a short amount of time, needless to say cooking the whole meal with just drinking water and a hot pack. So ya, as a professional rice eater HAHA, I have 18 (more than 10) years of experience in tasting rice and the thing inside the box, is NOT rice and not even close. When you pour it out and once it is cooked, it sure as hell look like rice and smelled like one too, but when you get a fork and slightly poke the rice, it produces a rubbery sound and you can definitely feel that it’s hmm how to say, weird?
The meat wise, the taste was good. The Japanese curry tasted good and the meat were not raw to say the least. The problem with the meat was the amount of meat given. Alright, I know with the amount of money paid, it would barely cover the cost of the packaging lol. Outside the packaging, the picture illustrates a dish with like reasonable amount of meat but when I cooked mine, hell I only got 2/3 pieces of meat in the tray HAHA wasn’t really happy when I ran out of meat to eat with my sticky rice. That's why they say, pictures are for illustration purposes only
This was the outcome.
Well I wouldn’t Say that it tasted very bad, it was just that the journey finishing the meal is, quite the journey, because:
1. I ran out of meat quarter way not even half lol
2. The rice taste like rubber
I had to cook an extra egg to finish the meal. It took me quite long to finish the meal. Mayb because I was watching youtube HAHAH
But overall, it is quite an efficient, easy, and fast meal. To the lazy gang out there, here’s your solution.
Oh I didn’t even mention the price. It’s quite expensive compared to the soup bases. I’ve seen them being sold from RM25 to RM28 off the shelves. I bought it online and it cost me RM20. I’ll say its quite unreasonable for what I’m offered with. But, it is a whole meal. Give it a try! Maybe you’ll like it :)
In conclusion,
Hai Di Lao Soup Base, 10/10.
Hai Di Lao Hotpot, 6/10. Being more than generous here.
Aaaaandddd, that’s all for this blog, see you in the next! :)
Comments