Maggi Senses Laksa Launch

We recently visited Cookyn Inc, located along Rangoon Road, for the launch of Maggi Senses Laksa. As the endorser for Maggi’s new product, MakanSutra founder KF Seetoh graced the event with his presence.

Iconic foodie Seetoh has been in the news recently for rolling out the Street Food Pro 360 course, an initiative which hopes to train a new generation of hawker entrepreneurs. 

He took time out of his schedule to show us how to prepare the new Maggi Senses Laksa. Throughout the demonstration, he chatted and joked with the crowd about how simple it was, and that he didn’t even need to be there.

My Maggi Cooking Experience

It was really exciting to meet the Makan Guru himself, as I spend a lot of time on the hunt for good hawker food as well. Meeting Seetoh and having my favourite hawker dish, Laksa, was quite a huge deal for me.

The cooking process looked deceptively simple. But the great thing about cooking this at home is that you get to add in whatever ingredients you like. I personally would add in my favourite see hum or cockles. As Seetoh said, see hum “hum-monises the flavours”. I couldn’t have put it better myself. A poached egg in there would be good too. 

We were told that the flavour was created after many rounds of consumer taste tests. I don’t know about you, but I appreciate a company which gets in touch with their consumers. After the demonstration, we were invited to a special luncheon prepared by Maggi. 

We started with the Scrambled Eggs topped with Caviar, finished with Maggi Liquid Seasoning Foam. The liquid seasoning foam didn’t do much for me, but gave the dish a little more flavour and a more atas look.

Then we had the Four Treasure Seafood Soup, which was prepared using Maggi Chef’s Master Stock. I was quite surprised that a premium Chinese soup could be made with the stock – looks like I’ve got to stay updated with the advancements in food technology!

Surprisingly, it wasn’t starchy like most Chinese soups. In terms of flavour, it was actually comparable to what they serve in Chinese restaurants.

Next up, we had the Slow Poached Chicken with Braised Flower Mushroom and Garden Green. This was prepared using Maggi Concentrated Chicken Stock and Maggi Oyster Sauce. Seetoh said that chefs nowadays use chicken stock to prepare their food as well. When I first heard that I was taken aback by this “cheat code” – but what he said next was also very true. 

He mentioned that it was not environmentally sustainable to make our own soup stock nowadays, because preparation requires physical exertion and electrical energy. Chicken stock is widely available now, so doesn’t it make more sense to channel the time and energy saved into other tedious parts of cooking?

Some people may cling to the notion that using chicken stock will render the taste “inauthentic” but I personally enjoyed this dish, chicken stock or not. The artfully plated dish was impressive, with the vegetables complementing the juicy and tender chicken. Enjoying good food shouldn’t come at the expense of the environment, right?

Finally, the star of the show: the Maggi Senses Laksa! It came with king prawns, fish cake, taupok and egg. I tucked into that hearty bowl of laksa and finished most of it – the only reason I didn’t was my low tolerance for spicy food. But it was so delicious that I tried to slurp up as much as I could without bursting into tears from the spiciness.

I personally liked the broth, which is quite different from other laksa I’ve tried. They wanted to recreate a flavour of “homestyle” cooking and I think they nailed it. There isn’t as much coconut milk as there would be in most laksa, but it was fragrant nonetheless. Otherwise, it would have been jelat or too cloying.

Verdict

Maggi Senses Laksa is about enjoying street food in the comfort of your own home. What really stood out for me is the wet paste, which was made without added MSG. It’s a godsend for health-conscious people who do not want to compromise on the quality of their food.

Our review may be slightly skewed because we had a totally pimped up Laksa with prawns and taupok while at home we may not bother to put in that effort. As for the product itself, I generally prefer wet paste for instant noodles. I’m not sure if they have a shelf life as long as their powdered counterparts, but it definitely looks fresher and less processed.

The new Maggi Senses Laksa also has a 100g noodle cake, which is almost twice the weight of their usual 60g noodle cake. One packet is definitely enough for two.

 Source: Maggi

It costs $7.95 for a pack of 4x141g – definitely more expensive than the other range of instant noodles on the market right now, but I reckon that paying a slightly higher price for a tastier soup and more noodles is well worth it.

If you do the math, this comes up to $2 per packet. If two people share a packet of noodles, a mere $1 per person will cure those midnight hunger pangs. That’s a pretty good deal, I say.

We were a little disappointed when we realised it only comes in the yellow noodle form. When asked if they would launch a white noodle version, they said they would only do so if there is a demand for it.

For now, Maggi Senses Laksa will be my go-to for the nights when I’m too lazy to prepare an elaborate dinner for myself, but still want to have something tasty.

This post was brought to you by Maggi.