Pikachu instant ramen costs less than a buck, would be awesome even without the free stickers

If you have a penchant for eating right, you’re no doubt familiar with the importance of a balanced diet that includes all of the major food groups. But even if you’re making sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, have you got the Pikachu food group covered?

Sure, you already know how to make a Pikachu burger, but if you’re looking to up your Pokémon intake (and skip having to do any real cooking yourself), you can now buy quick, convenient, and adorable Pikachu ramen.

Sanyo Foods sells a number of different products, but one of the most consistently popular is its line of Sapporo Ichiban instant ramen. But while Sapporo Ichiban is tasty enough under normal circumstances, it become even more tempting when it teams up with the most famous Pocket Monster of them all.

Pokémon Noodles went on sale in early April, and when we saw Pikachu himself staring back at us from the grocery store aisle, we couldn’t say no, so we picked up two packs to try for ourselves.

We didn’t grab two just because we couldn’t decide which package was cuter, but because there are actually two different flavors. The container with a whole pack of Pikachus looking ready to overrun Yokohama is the seafood flavor, while the one with a single smiling Pika-visage is regular soy broth.

While there are plenty of adults who grew up loving Pokémon and remain fans to this day, the franchise is first and foremost for kids, which explains why the Pikachu ramen comes in smaller portions than regular cup ramen. Of course, it’s also cheaper at just 106 yen (US$0.89) while still being a decent size for a snack if you’re a grown-up.

▼ So…many…Pikachus…

Even the lids keep the theme going, with each one styled like a Poké Ball.

It’s an apt choice, as each cup of noodles actually does contain Pokémon in both sticker and edible forms.

We’re not sure how many cups you’d have to buy to catch all 10 stickers in the series, but the two we pulled out were different designs, so we’re off to a good start.

The second Pikachu appearance comes from the kamaboko, or fish sausage, in the noodles. Kamaboko in ramen is usually disc-shaped or semicircular, maybe with a decorative spiral pattern to it, but the Pokémon Noodles’ packaging promised us kamaboko that looked like Pikachu.

▼ We couldn’t see any at this point, but then again, the games never give you the best Pokémon right away.

The method for making Pikachu ramen is the same as any other instant type: pour in hot water and wait three minutes. We suppose we could have used a sticker to hold the lid shut, but that seemed like sort of a waste, so we just grabbed a coaster and laid it on top of the cup instead.

Three minutes later, we peeled back the lid, with the salty steam of the seafood ramen and the sweeter-smelling soy broth wafting up towards us. Both flavors have the same toppings, green onions and, considering how cheap the Pokémon Noodles are, a decent amount of corn. Sanyo Foods also says each cup contains 300 milligrams of calcium, 42 percent of the recommended daily amount.

We still hadn’t spotted any Pikachus, though, so we commenced our search by eating their hiding place.

Trapped in the cup, the Pikachus now had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, and soon enough, we found one!

We’re not sure if it’s just a quirk of the size and buoyancy of the kamaboko, or if Sanyo Foods purposely packages them that way in order to give you something to look forward to as your meal goes on, but the closer we got to the bottom, the more Pikachus we came across.

▼ The full complement of Pikachus in the soy broth ramen

▼ Uh-oh! Looks like a couple of Pikachus are out of hit points!

As for the flavor, if you’ve ever had Sapporo Ichiban (which is available at grocery stores in the U.S.), you know what to expect: a straightforward, balanced flavor with no harshness or odd qualities to it. There’s a pleasantly mild shrimp-like saltiness for the seafood variety, and the soy is pretty much the archetype of instant ramen in the taste department, so we can’t see anyone who likes ramen or Pokémon disliking either of these.

▼ CASEY used EAT!
It’s pretty delicious!

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