The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL) was established as a government agency in 1901 under Japanese colonisation, and has maintained its state-owned function to date as a state liquor manufacturer.
Its most well-known products are Taiwan Beer which is considered an icon in Taiwanese culture and also the most popular beer locally; as well as traditional Chinese Hua Tiao wine.
The latter has been used in TTL’s instant noodle innovation to create its viral TTL Hua Tiao Chicken Noodles, which incorporate not only significant Hua Tiao wine content but also Chinese herbs and meat chunks.
“These are not your average instant noodles – Hua Tiao wine elevates the noodles to another level, as it is traditionally known for its antioxidant content as well as benefits for digestion and blood circulation,” TTL Division of International Business spokeswoman Elle Liao told us.
“The meat that is provided in these instant noodle bowls has undergone our in-house processing so these are not little dried pieces – they are substantial chicken chunks that are a major part of the entire consumption experience, and this is all enhanced with the addition of whole goji berries for sweetness.”
The instant noodle bowls come with four separate individual ingredient packets on top of the noodles to provide its distinctive flavours.
“The first packet contains seasoning powder, the second has seasoning oil, the third contains the chicken chunks that have been marinated in both Hua Tiao wine and spicy marinade, and the fourth is the alcohol itself,” she explained.
“This product’s greatest unique point is that it is a novel item with herbal benefits that comes in a tasty and convenient ready-to-eat (RTE) instant noodle format that consumers are familiar with.”
In addition to the Hua Tiao Chicken Noodles, TTL has also developed Rice Wine Sesame Oil Chicken Noodles, Hua Tiao Dongpo Pork Noodles, Shaoxing Mustard Green Chicken Noodles, Hua Tiao Sauerkraut Beef Noodles and Red Wine Stewed Beef Noodles and Mala Alcohol Fragrance Pork Noodles as part of its alcohol-infused instant noodles range.
“We already have the alcohol in production, and we are indeed well-known for our liquors, so it made a lot of sense to us,” she said.
“Some of these items such as the Red Wine Stewed Beef Noodle bowls are already being exported to markets like Hong Kong, and we recently also finally managed to get Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approval for the Hua Tiao Chicken Noodles after many years.”
New noodles and expansions
SFA is known to have one of the strictest food safety approval systems in the region when it comes to meat and meat-related products, and TTL’s ability to secure a permit has opened it up to many more significant regional opportunities.
It has made a strong entry into the market by already securing listings in NTUC FairPrice, which is the largest supermarket chain in the country, and plans to innovate even more in the noodles category moving forward.
“We have many more plans for the instant noodle category, and will innovate based on each market’s demands – for instance, we are looking at vegan products too,” Liao said.
“We also see very strong potential for our other range of noodles Yushantang – this is a ready-to-cook (RTD) range and not RTE, but is an even more premium offering that contains some form of an alcohol base along with premium ingredients.”
One of these is its ‘Medicinal Cuisine Pork Ribs Noodles’, which contains medicinal wine, well as a range of traditional Chinese herbs and chunks of pork ribs. Others are the Mongolian Beef noodles, Double Chilli Pork Ribs noodles and Beer-infused Chicken noodles.