I Changed My Mind About Instant Meals. Here’s Why.

Instant meals are not so bad after all!~

Disclaimer: This post is solely based on the opinion of an employee at MAMABOX.

There are times when I get too lazy to cook, especially after a long day at work or school. All I want to do is lay in bed and rest. Although I have Instant food at home, I often wished for more nutritious choices. Why are all Instant Foods so unhealthy? They are usually artificial and taste only of preservatives. Other than that, they are usually High in MSG and sodium, often leaving me feeling thirsty. 

However, when I came across the Hai Fu Sheng Instant Meal Series which has High Quality ingredients like Beef, Spare Ribs, and Seafood, I knew I had to try it. 

Hai Fu Sheng has Porridge, Pao Fan (Soup Rice), Mian Pi, and Soup series.

Here’s how a week of incorporating Hai Fu Sheng Products into my meals went: 

Monday: 

Was too busy to buy lunch, so I decided to try Hai Fu Sheng Instant Porridge(Spare Ribs). 

Here are the contents of the Hai Fu Sheng Porridge! Oats in a packet, Freeze-Dried Ingredients in another packet, and a spoon. 

Here’s how the freeze-dried ingredients look. 

Preparing the Porridge was easy. Simply open the two bags and empty the contents into the cup, add Boiling water till it reaches the water line, Stir well, and Wait for 5 minutes.

Looking at the Porridge, it resembles home-cooked porridge. You can see the individual rice grains unlike other instant porridges out there. There were a few ingredients too, mushroom, vegetable, and spare ribs in a cube form. Because it's freeze-dried, you can see the individual ingredients. 

I was genuinely surprised… The Porridge broth is flavorful and not too salty. I was most curious about what the meat would taste like. Would it taste artificial? However, that wasn’t the case. The spare ribs did not taste artificial and had a subtle FATTY taste! The Oats were a perfect complement to the porridge too. 

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 (the portion was a little too small for me, would recommend getting a side dish along with the porridge)

There are other flavours available: Seafood, Beef, and Century Egg&Pork!

Price: Only $2.30 each ($14 for 6)

Wednesday: 

On Wednesday, I needed a quick dinner after work and before a gym session. I decided to try out something more filling, the Hai Fu Sheng Pao Fan(Beef).  

Here’s how the ingredients look, basically the Freeze-Dried Ingredients in a cube and Freeze-Dried Rice Grains. 

The process of preparing the Pao Fan was the same as the porridge. The whole process took less than 10 minutes! 

I was most excited to try this because I love Pao Fans. There were several ingredients, beef, cut green and red chilli, and Tou Pi (Beancurd Skin). The soup was peppery and savoury. I could taste the Umami flavour. The Beef was chewy and did not taste artificial. Although it got a little salty at the end, I enjoyed this meal and would eat it again. It's the PERFECT comfort meal on a rainy day. 

Overall Rating: 4/5(it was pretty filling)

Other flavour: Stewed Chicken with Mushrooms Pao Fan 

Price: Only $2.50 Each ($15 for 6) 

Friday: 

TGIF! It was a Friday night, I was exhausted after a long day of work and a birthday dinner with friends. I was craving some Mala for supper. I decided it was a great time to try Hai Fu Sheng’s Hot & Sour Chilli Oil Mian Pi!

The contents in Hai Fu Sheng’s Chilli Oil Mian Pi include seasoning packets, mala oil packets and the noodles. 

The preparation process was a little different from the Porridge and Pao Fan. The noodles had to be cooked first (by adding boiling water), before adding the seasonings and Mala sauces. 

The noodles were wide noodles, with a texture like Kway Teow and Ban Mian. After mixing the noodles with the sauce, the noodles were glossy and coated with Mala Oil. I couldn’t wait to take a bite. The sauce was fragrant and a little spicy. It had Chilli flakes and sesame seeds! The spice level was between Xiao la and Zhong la. It gives the mouth-numbing sensation. Although the noodles were coated with Mala Oil, it was not too oily. 

Rating: 4/5 (this Chilli Oil Mian Pi satisfied my Mala cravings and the portion was just nice!) 

Other Flavour Available: Sesame Chilli Oil Mian Pi 

Price: Only $2.60 Each ($15.50 for 6)

I’ve had bad experiences with Instant meals as they were always too salty, too artificial, full of preservatives, and were too plain as there were no ingredients. 

However, the Hai Fu Sheng Instant meals taste and look like home-cooked meals or food bought outside. This is because the rice and ingredients are freeze-dried. 

I would certainly consider buying the different series of Hai Fu Sheng to stock up on my instant foods at home or bring it on my next overseas trip for quick and easy suppers!

Hai Fu Sheng’s Porridge, Pao Fan, Soup, and Chilli Oil Mian Pi series are available on our website. Get your quick and easy ready-to-eat meals now! 

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