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We try the new Zero-Second Chicken Ramen: Is it worth the hype?【Taste Test】

Dale Roll Apr 7, 2022
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The popular instant ramen brand, instantly edible?

Instant ramen is a staple of Japanese cuisine, and there are good reasons why: it’s cheap, it’s tasty, and, above all, it’s fast. One of the most popular instant ramen brands is Nissin’s Chicken Ramen, known for its cute little chick mascot named Hiyoko-chan and its orange and white-striped packaging. Chicken Ramen has been around for over 60 years and was actually the first cup noodle brand, so it deserves our respect.

What’s more, Nissin has just released an intriguing Chicken Ramen product: Zero-Second Chicken Ramen. Yes, that’s delicious Chicken Ramen, without the prep time. Preposterous? Not as much as you might think.

You see, several years ago, a post talking about how Chicken Ramen is delicious without being cooked went viral. We, as Chicken Ramen fans, instantly knew why. Chicken Ramen is inherently delicious, so eating its noodles dry and sprinkled with the spices from the spice bag is like eating Baby Star ramen bits as a snack, only with a slightly different flavor.

However, Chicken Ramen is meant to be diluted with water, so the flavor of the spices can be a bit overpowering if eaten straight out of the bag. Perhaps that’s why Nissin created this Zero-Second Chicken Ramen, which requires no prep and as such is meant to be eaten as is. In fact, putting these noodles in water is discouraged. It even says on the package, “These noodles will not taste good when put in hot water.”

▼ As indicated by the miserable-looking Hiyoko-chan who made the mistake of eating them with hot water.

We managed to get our hands on a package of Zero-Second Chicken Ramen, which has a recommended retail price of 111 yen (US$0.90). We were eager to see what it looks like inside, so we ripped open the bag and poured it out onto a plate.

It came out in a single disk…and it even had a dip for an egg. The hot version of Chicken Ramen, as you might be able to tell from the picture on its packaging, gives you the option of cooking it in the pot with an egg, which is why it has a dip in the center (so the egg will stay in one place while cooking). Of course, Zero-Second Chicken Ramen has no need for an egg pocket, but the fact that they put it there was pretty cool. The degree of attention to detail was impressive.

Flavor-wise…well, it was basically like Baby Star. It did seem like they had taken out much of the sodium, so it didn’t make us immediately thirsty like eating regular Chicken Ramen dry does. Regardless of the flavor, however, what really impressed us most was the fact that it really was designed to be eaten as is.

After this, we snacked on regular, uncooked Chicken Ramen to compare, and we were actually pretty surprised at how salty it tasted. That made it clear that the Zero-Second Chicken Ramen is designed differently. If you’re hankering for a salty snack and are thinking of eating ramen right out of the bag, Zero-Second Chicken Ramen is the only way to go. Well, and Baby Star, of course.

By the way, if you’re a Chicken Ramen fan, don’t forget to try the new Chicken Ramen Chocolate Flakes. It’s the ultimate salty-sweet combination!

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[ Read in Japanese ]