If I had to choose again, I would still choose Miliket instant noodles

When the writer entered university in 1989, a monthly Category C scholarship of 11,000 dong made every meal a calculation. At the Thủ Đức dormitory, now part of Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, the priority was simple: food had to be tasty, filling and cheap.

The answer came in the form of Miliket noodle pieces. The writer rode a bicycle to Trạm 2 market, named after a nearby traffic police station, to search for low-cost food. One Miliket product came in one-kilogram plastic bags containing more than 10 intact noodle portions. Another consisted entirely of broken noodles, cheaper because diners could simply scoop them with a spoon.

A bag of noodle pieces could cover breakfast for nearly two weeks. It did not include a seasoning packet, but that was no obstacle. Salt and monosodium glutamate allowed the writer to season each bowl to taste. After finishing the first bag, the writer felt satisfied and kept buying one bag after another throughout university.

The noodles also became a reserve against sudden financial strain. At the beginning of each month, the writer bought two bags, securing breakfast for the month even if the budget later fell short. The noodle pieces could be mixed with rice, spring onions or wild betel leaves to make soup, or stir-fried with pork fat, eggs, vegetables and Cholimex chili sauce.

After graduation, stable employment made it unnecessary to buy the cheapest noodle pieces. The loyalty, however, remained. Miliket noodles have been the writer’s favorite food for 37 years.