Special ingredient makes for an instant ramen that looks like no other.
While the “men” part of the word “ramen” means “noodles,” it’s really the broth that makes ramen special. The noodles themselves don’t really have much flavor, after all.
Soy, miso, and pork are the most popular choices of stock, and each imparts its own unique flavor. Regardless of the stock, though, most ramen broth tends to be a shade of brown, which makes the latest offering from Cup Noodle maker Nissin shocking to behold.
Set to go on sale at the end of the month, the Squid Ink Black Seafood Cup Noodle s part of the jumbo-sized Cup Noodle Big series. Based on the mixed pork/fish stock broth of Nissin’s long-selling Seafood Cup Noodle, this unique instant ramen comes with a packet of squid ink paste that you add to the broth, resulting in the jet-black broth seen in the photo below.
▼ The splashes of color on the packaging are either there to provide some contrast, or to tap into video gamers’ association between squid and neon paint formed through hours spent playing Nintendo’s Splatoon.
This isn’t the first time for black ramen to appear in Japan. However, the unorthodox variant is usually something you have to go to a restaurant with a cook who’s willing to experiment if you want to try, as opposed to something you can make for yourself at home in three minutes.
Each cup offers a double-helping of squid savoriness, as there are also pieces of squid mixed in among the noodles, along with cabbage, egg, kamaboko fish sausage, and green onions.
While all of that sounds plenty tasty, Nissin is boasting that the Squid Ink Black Seafood is “photogenic” in addition to delicious, so we can probably expect plenty of snapshots of the dish showing up on social media once it goes on sale, priced at 205 yen (US$1.85) on July 31 at convenience stores and supermarkets across Japan.