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We track down rare Ramen Pringles, sold only at special vending machines in Japan

Oona McGee Oct 13, 2020
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New Japan-only Pringles flavour is an adventure hunt!

One of the things we love most about Pringles is their special limited-edition flavours, covering everything from takoyaki octopus balls through to Eggs Benedict and even sukiyaki.

So when we heard that Pringles was adding a Japan-exclusive ramen flavour to their lineup, everyone in the SoraNews24 office was on the lookout for them. The only problem was, they were incredibly hard to find as they were only being sold in new Pringles vending machines.

After going on sale from 27 July, it took us months to finally track down the new Ramen Pringles, and it was actually our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa who finally stumbled across them at the Geo “Hyper Media Shop” at Higashioizumi in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward.

▼ The vending machine looked more like an arcade machine with its shiny, see-through panels and giant “stop” button

It’s said that there are 1,000 of these special Pringles vending machines scattered across the nation, and they’re usually located in shopping malls, amusement parks, movie theatres, and department stores, so Seiji was pretty lucky to come across one by accident.

As he approached the machine, he found what everyone had been looking for these past few months: the “vending-machine-exclusive” Kanto Dashi Shoyu Ramen flavoured Pringles.

▼ The eastern Kanto region in and around Tokyo is famous for shoyu (soy sauce) ramen made with a seafood dashi (soup stock) base.

The Pringles vending machine didn’t just look like an arcade machine — it worked like one too, as the flavour that pops out of the machine with “1 Pay” of 200 yen (US$1.89) is totally random. Other options inside the machine included Sour Cream and Onion, Lightly Salted, and Takoyaki.

Seiji decided to play the Pringles game, and popped in his 200 yen. The machine instantly sprang to life, with music and an enthusiastic “Ready? Go!!!” blaring in his ears as a special roulette panel appeared, offering him the chance to “win” one, two, or three cans of Pringles. Seiji pressed the “stop” button, and the roulette panel landed on…

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A post shared by 中澤星児 (@seiji_nakazawa)

Two! Not a bad return for 200 yen, and even better — one of the cans that popped out was the ramen variety we’d all been searching for! He hot-footed it back to the office to let us know the adventure hunt was over, and we all took a moment to admire the pretty packaging.

▼ The label features the Tokyo city skyline, including the famous sites of Sensoji Temple and Tokyo Skytree, with a bowl of noodles and a chip ramen chef looming over it.

There’s been a lot of online buzz about how the nuances of taste with these chips change depending on which part of the ramen you think about while eating them. Seiji was keen to try this out for himself, so he picked out a chip, closed his eyes to picture a delectable soy sauce broth, and took a bite.

As he crunched through the chip, he smiled as the seasoning tasted exactly like the broth he’d been imagining. He took out another chip and then another flavour hit him…green onions! With the next chip, he got a mouthful of…rich Char siu pork! In fact, the more he ate, the stronger the pork flavour became, rounding off with a soy sauce finish that really replicated the flavour of a bowl of ramen perfectly.

The Kanto Dashi Shoyu Ramen flavoured Pringles is an incredibly rare flavour that Seiji says he’d happily try again and again. Now he has us wanting to revisit this mammoth Japan-exclusive Pringles roundup featuring ALL the Japan-exclusive Pringles varieties, including N.Y. Cheese Burger, Manhattan Clam Chowder, and Karaage!

Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]