Vesta Chow Mein. This was a noodle dish sold in dehydrated form in the UK. It was one of a 'meal in a box' range first sold around the late '60s. Inside the box were three sachets of dried ingredients, plus a little sachet of soy sauce. You put the contents of the meat and veg sauce (first sachet) in water, boiled it and cooked it for 5 minites, then in went the noodles (second sachet) and you simmered for 15 minutes. There was a third sachet with 'crispy noodles' which you fried; they puffed up and were delicious. These, together with the soy sauce, went on top when you served the meal.
First of all, they started to get more difficult to get hold of. Takeaways and frozen ready meals were displacing them. Then they changed the 'crispy noodles' to something different, which further diminished the appeal of the dish. Were they trying to justify discontinuing it? I can't find it actually in stock anywhere!
