Low-calorie alternatives replace the carbs with something else.

Just like a plate of spaghetti with no sauce makes for a bland meal, ramen noodles don’t have all that much flavor. When you passionately devour a bowl of ramen, most of what you’re tasting is the broth, which is why you’ll often hear ramen enthusiasts proudly championing their preferred soup stocks, but rarely do they wax poetic about the noodles themselves.

Understanding this, Nissin, in a bold move for the maker of Cup Noodle instant ramen, has released a line of products called No-Noodle Ramen. Like a standard cup of instant ramen, each has broth, meat, and green onion, but the noodles have all been replaced with cubes of tofu.

This month, Nissin will be adding two new flavors to the No-Noodle Ramen lineup, starting with tonkotsu (pork stock), the most popular kind of ramen broth in Kyushu.

On the other hand, if you want something with more kick, the other newcomer is tantan soup, made with spicy chilies and sesame.

Both go on sale August 21 and are priced at 170 yen (US$1.50), about the same as what a low-priced noodle-including instant ramen will run you. Nissin also boasts that these are low-calorie ways to get your ramen fix, with the No-Noodle Tonkotsu Tofu Soup being just 67 calories, and the tantan version 76 calories. The lack of noodles also means they’re low-carbohydrate options, so between Nissin’s No-Noodle Ramen and Wendy’s Japan’s bun-shunning Wild Rock burger, you can indulge in two of the culinary world’s great guilty pleasures while side-stepping some unwanted carbs.

Source: Entabe
Images: Nissin

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s happy to have your carbs if you don’t want them.