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Cup Noodle pouch satisfies our never-ending need for instant ramen

Oona McGee Sep 28, 2021
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Cute design details make stomachs rumble everywhere you go!

Nissin’s Cup Noodle made a lasting name for itself as the world’s first-ever instant cup noodle when it was released 50 years ago. This year, to celebrate its half-century innings, the brand has been giving us a lot of surprising treats, one of which is…a special pouch that looks just like a pack of Cup Noodle.

▼ The pouch is only available inside the Cup Noodle 50th Anniversary Book, released by Takarajmasha on 18 September.

There are small and large pouches available, and different flavours — original, seafood or chilli tomato — depending on where you purchase the book. We were after the large-size original pouch, which we were able to find at a bookstore for 2,178 yen (US$20).

There aren’t a lot of pages to the so-called book, which acts as more of a convenient way to mass-produce and sell the product, because as soon as you open the cover, the box containing the pouch is there waiting to greet you.

Opening the box revealed the flat-packed pouch, which needed some gentle plumping to perfect its rounded shape.

The pouch was indeed large, measuring in at 14.5 centimetres (5.7 inches) in height and 12.5 centimetres across the top, which is considerably larger than an actual Cup Noodle.

Still, we weren’t complaining, as the pouch looked gorgeous once it was upright and fully zipped, making us feel as if we were about to dig into an extra-large serving of noodles.

The back of the pouch, however, makes it clear that nothing here is made for eating, with the first note being: “This is a Pouch. Do not put boiling water inside it.” It then goes on to stress this point again, saying: “This may seem insistent, but this is a pouch. Please do not try to eat it or use it as a tableware.”

The red boxes that look to be cooking instructions are actually tips for the best ways to use the pouch, with suggestions being to photograph it, use it for stationery and…be careful not to overfill it.

Another cute detail is the zip, which features a metal fork. While most people eat Cup Noodles with chopsticks, Nissin actually recommends using a fork, so this is a nice tip-of-the-hat to that recommendation.

When you look at the pouch from above, you can see that the lid isn’t entirely round, and that’s because it’s been modelled on the newer Cup Noodle lids released this year, which have tabs that resemble animal ears.

These new lids come with a surprise animal printed on the foil surface underneath, and lifting the lid on the pouch reveals a foil-like surface with the image of a cat, just like the ones seen on real Cup Noodles.

Peering inside makes you feel as if you’re peering into a pack of Cup Noodles, with the lining decorated in images of prawns, noodles, and mystery meat.

The generous size means you can use the pouch for a number of purposes, including as a small carry bag.

It’s a bag that’ll turn heads everywhere you go, especially when you unzip the lid so your pet cat can pop up to say hello!

The most common use for the pouch, though, is as a stationery container. This allows you to keep it on your desk and use it every day, dipping into the tub for a pen, a pair of scissors, or even a mouse or gaming controller, as it’s big enough to fit a wide range of everyday utensils.

The book that comes with the Cup Noodle pouch only consists of a few pages, but one is particularly noteworthy as it contains a cute collection of Cup Noodle stickers! There’s an alphabet in the brand’s distinctive red font, which allows you to customise anything you like, and the now-defunct lid sticker is also there too.

In our opinion, the large-sized Original Cup Noodle pouch is the best one to get in the new collection, and while the pouch can’t be directly used to make Cup Noodles, there’s nothing stopping us from popping one of the new Super Combined varieties inside it for a fun storage idea.

Given its size, we might even be able to fit a couple of the Cup Noodle sodas in there too, although we’ll definitely be steering clear of the Seafood Soda, which tastes a bit like clam chowder mixed with Calpis.

Related: FASHION BOX (Takarajimasha)
Photos: ©SoraNews24
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