
The only mystery here is why Nissin hadn’t thought of this earlier.
On 19 July, Cup Noodle maker Nissin posted an image that sent shockwaves across the junk food loving segments of Twitter. It was a Yoshinoya parody featuring a bowl of rice covered in the tiny cubes of meat typically found floating in a regular Cup Noodle.
▼ “Nazoniku-don! On sale… undecided!!”
[tweet https://twitter.com/cupnoodle_jp/status/887499792380710912 align=center]These little cubes have been dubbed “mystery meat” (nazoniku) due to their geometric shape, but are really just tiny pieces of processed pork. When soaked in the flavored broth of Cup Noodle, they pack a whole lot of deliciousness in their small size.
Considering Cup Noodle has a history of turning their outlandish tweets into reality, many people lost their minds at the possibility of a mystery meat rice bowl. Our own Mr. Sato was one of them and completely freaked out when Nissin suddenly announced the Mystery Meat Bowl would be sold from 29 July. The only question was: where?!
Mr. Sato investigated and found the extremely limited way these dishes could be acquired was from the Cup Noodle Museum in Yokohama. Now, normally we would list the information at the end of the article, but this is such an unprecedented event that we are going to post it right now at Mr. Sato’s insistence…and the fact that he’s standing behind me fondling a baseball bat.
Mystery Meat Bowl Information
Cup Noodle Museum 4F Noodles Bazaar / カップヌードルミュージアム4F 「NOODLES BAZAAR」
Kanagawa-ken, Yokohama-shi, Naka-ku, Shinko 2-3-4
神奈川県横浜市中区新港2丁目3−4
29 July to 31 August (Museum is closed 18 and 29 August)
Only 29 bowls are sold in one day
Price: 300 yen (US$270)
Since Mr. Sato has an in with the junk food industry, he managed to get access to a special press tasting in advance of the Mystery Meat Bowl’s release. His expectations were sky-high, but he was worried that such a forbidden taste would be more than a god-fearing man like himself could handle…
Then it arrived.
A single tear ran down Mr. Sato’s cheek. It was more beautiful than he could imagine. For once, our star writer was at a loss for words and could only describe his experience in a partially articulated word-like utterance.
“Uuuuuuummmmmmmmmmeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
It was even more delicious than his wildest fantasies. It was like a dream in which Mr. Sato was gently slurping a Cup Noodle in a slow-motion sparkly haze when suddenly – uh oh – a cube of mystery meat slowly slipped out with some droplets of Cup Noodle broth.
However, a bed of fluffy white rice magically appeared beneath, and both meat and broth landed safely with a pleasant plop plop. Then suddenly, more meat and soup began slipping out of the cup until Mr. Sato couldn’t hold it in any longer. Mystery meat gushed forth gently but forcefully and all landed neatly in the bowl – plop plop plop.
When it was all done, every inch of the bowl was covered in little cubes of meat; each one thoroughly soaked with the seasoned broth of Cup Noodle.
That is what eating a Mystery Meat Bowl is like.
If that weren’t enough, it turned out that the Cup Noodle seasoning went perfectly with rice too! Mr. Sato finished his sample in seconds and still wanted more.
However, there would be no more. Having already experienced the ecstasy of Mystery Meat Bowl, the agony was that there are only 29 bowls available per day. So, if you plan to get some, make sure you leave early.
Unfortunately, Mr. Sato had already become addicted and is now pleading with Nissin to somehow mass produce the Mystery Meat Bowl for home consumption. His only alternative would be to make it himself, but since he would need about 35 cubes it would require several Cup Noodles and all the time and money that goes along with sourcing them.
So while we lock Mr. Sato in a room to let him go through his mystery meat withdrawal, you can go and try a bowl yourself until August 31, but don’t treat this like any other casual day at the Cup Noodle Museum. Mystery Meat Bowls are a highly coveted and highly limited item so plan accordingly!
Source: Nissin, Twitter/@cupnoodle_jp
Photos: SoraNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]








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