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Japan has instant ramen booster packs, and we’re not even trying to restrain ourselves【Taste test】

Casey Baseel May 31, 2022
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We throw every booster pack we can get our hands on into one Cup Noodle for decadent density.

Instant ramen is all about satisfying our strongest cravings in the quickest way possible. However, by being so accommodating instant ramen also runs the risk of completely eradicating any ability we have to self-regulate our desires. So while we always find ourselves saying “This is goooooood” while we’re chowing down on some Cup Noodle, we also often find ourselves saying “And I want MORE!”

Well, it seems that Cup Noodle maker Nissin has herd our gluttonous growling, and they’re now offering instant ramen booster packs.

As anyone who’s eaten cup ramen knows, you’ve got dried noodles and toppings inside the cup. Nissin’s Cup Noodle booster packs, or oi guzai pakku (“extra ingredient packs”), as they’re called in Japanese, are pouches containing an extra portion of one of eight Cup Noodle toppings.

▼ Top row (left to right): Mystery meat, shrimp, green onion, potato
Bottom row: Cheese, tomato, egg, spicy mystery meat

Nissin isn’t selling the packs individually, though, Instead they’re being offered as part of a promotion through the company’s online store here. Buy an eight-pack of the most popular Cup Noodle flavors for 1,500 yen (US$11.80), and Nissin will throw in an eight-pack of booster packs, while supplies last.

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a set, but we were also foolish enough to leave them just sitting around the office, where they caught the eye of our Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun, who just happened to be getting ready to make himself a Cup Noodle.

Before pouring in the hot water, he looked at the standard amount of toppings and realized he could power-up his lunch with a booster pack, so he reached out and grabbed the mystery meat pouch.

▼ We’ve solved the mystery meat mystery, by the way.

But while mystery meat hits the spot for satisfying those carnivorous culinary urges, P.K. also has an appreciation for shellfish (he is, remember, the guy who ordered a 46-tempura shrimp rice bowl for lunch that one time). So, what the heck, why not use the shrimp booster pack too?

Come to think of it, extra egg sounded good too…

You don’t have to be a psychic to predict what P.K. eventually ended up doing. Yep, he completely caved in to temptation and added all eight booster packs to his Cup Noodle.

Cackling with glee, he very carefully poured in the hot water, since the cup was close to overflowing already just from all the extra toppings. Thankfully, everything stayed in the cup, and when it was time to eat, P.K.’s Cup Noodle was more like a Cup Topping.

▼ Seriously, you can’t see the noodles anymore!

Since he was using the standard Cup Noodle variety as the base, the flavor of the broth was the same reliably delicious soy flavor that fans know and love. All the extra toppings, though, made this by far the most decadent and hearty Cup Noodle that P.K. can remember eating. Nissin already has a line of large-size instant noodles that it calls Big Cup Noodle, but this felt like it should be called Dense Cup Noodle, since it wasn’t just the topping quantity, but the noodle-to-topping ration that had been changed.

Now, we should note that Nissin itself says you can limit yourself to adding just a single booster pack to your cup of ramen, or even eating a pack by itself as a snack. You don’t have to use them all at once like P.K. did. But admit it, you want to, right? And P.K. will be the last person to try to talk you out of that.

Photos © SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]