Moments with Maggi

I do not want you to cook this, Mama. My little girl said to me. Her exact words were, "Madik Nga lutuem daytoy, Mama."

I did not get it at first but the 'Ahhh' came already when I realized it was the same thing with us when we were kids.

What am I talking about?

Well, it's just the noodle thing.

When I cook noodles, while boiling water, or just at the onset of the cooking activity, any of my children would beg for some piece of the uncooked thing.

When my little girl asked me not to cook it even if they already asked me to cook it, I got it that she wanted to eat some uncooked noodles.

I took a bit of noodle from the pack and gave it to my little girl.

She flexed it to her older brother and I told them not to fight. They shared the piece of uncooked noodles because I already put the rest in the boiling water for it to be cooked.

I was glad they didn't fight over it. My son assured me he won't force the thing away from his sister. They assured me they will just share. I was really glad.

We waited for the noodles to be cooked. They ate it after. I was still full from my snacks from town so I did not partake anymore.

When we were kids, it was the same thing. Whenever we had noodles, we would expect our mama to give each of us a bit of Maggi which we delightfully eat. Maggi is what we call Payless or Lucky Me noodles before.

Moments with Maggi wouldn't be complete without the begging of bits of it from Mama. And I'm just surprised how that kitchen scene before has semblance to the present, this time, instead of Maggi, it is Payless or Lucky Me.

It is Lucky Me that I cooked this lunch. You just have to make sure that your whole noodle, uncooked, is not snatched from you by your little ones. It is okay to give kids bitsy bits but not the whole so that you have something to eat.

By the way, my husband always reacts to this kind of food, he says not to eat it frequently.

I just happened to pick three packs at the grocery store and yes, I also do not recommend it for regular consumption.

But imagine you are stranded in the middle of a highway for the reason of, say, landslide. Imagine it is cold. You are hungry.

It happened to us before. I was unmarried then and I was traveling with my older sister and some townmates. We took the bus. We do not have cars anyway.

Midway, a landslide occurred, leaving us stranded on the highway. Good thing we were near a store. One townmate asked the lady of the house to cook Maggi for us.

With egg!

Wow!

Sarap!

Yummy, at that particular moment!

We were stranded and we were hungry, very famished.

We eagerly waited for our food. It came and we shared the food at once.

One of us exclaimed, "Naima-images ay talaga nan Maggi!" Translated to English it means, Maggi is really really delicious!

Until now, I recreate that scene where I superbly enjoyed a bowl of Maggi with egg!

When you are not used to half-cooked noodles, you'll be complaining the first time you eat it like that. I think in our town, kids were used to soggy overcooked noodles. I don't know, it was what I noticed. Back in the '90s.

But when you get used to it, you will not be wanting the soggy thing anymore.

Personally, though, I like to have soggy one time, and not soggy the next time.

Following the Korean wave, so many versions of noodles have been in and out of the market. Still, nothing yet has equaled the blissful moments I've had with Maggi.