Which one is tastier: Sour Cream and Onion yakisoba or Jalapeño and Onion cup ramen?

Earlier this month, Pringles fans everywhere were given a surprise they never saw coming — instant noodles. Created to mark 50 years in business for the iconic chip brand, and 30 years for Japan’s instant noodle brand Super Cup, the new collaboration announcement combined the best of both worlds with a new Sour Cream and Onion Yakisoba and a Jalapeño and Onion Cup Ramen.

The two new products were released yesterday, and nobody was looking forward to their arrival more than our Japanese-language reporter K. Nagahashi, who’d been so impatient he’d had a go at making a batch himself last week.

So when K headed down to his local supermarket, he was thrilled to see this display of Pringles noodles waiting for him. He was even more chuffed when he found that the store had them on sale for 149 yen (US$1.33), which was lower than the advertised recommended retail price of 200 yen.

After picking up a pack each of the new ramen and yakisoba varieties, K went home to give these a thorough looking-over. Starting with the Sour Cream noodles, the first thing he loved about the product was its gorgeous packaging, which had the eye-catching Pringles logo printed large in centre, with the Super Cup logo much smaller alongside it.

▼ The bright green package had Sour Cream Pringles written all over it, literally.

Opening up the pack, K found the same instant yakisoba noodles he’d enjoyed from Super Cup for years. He added boiling hot water, which he then discarded after three minutes as usual, but when he opened up the seasoning packets, it was clear that this was no ordinary Super Cup.

▼ He added the oil and mixed it through the noodles…

And then sprinkled the seasoning packet on top, which was packed with aromatic, chip-like flavours.

▼ K gave it all a thorough mix, with the deft hand movements of a chef in his chef whites.

Looking at it when it was ready to eat, the instant yakisoba looked no different to an ordinary Super Cup variety.

However, as soon as he took his first bite, K’s tastebuds revelled in the addictive flavour of Pringles Sour Cream and onion chips. He was relieved to find that this didn’t taste like a cheap gimmick either – in fact, it was all very well balanced, with the familiar flavour of yakisoba combining brilliantly with the richness of onion and the mellowness of the sour cream, creating a truly unique and tasty instant noodle experience.

For comparison’s sake, K took a bite of a Pringles chip and found that this was also a pretty neat combination. A mouthful of soft noodles followed by the crunch of the chip created a fantastic textural sensation that worked to enhance all the punchy flavours.

He went on to eat the whole tub of yakisoba with more than a handful of chips, and even though he was fully satisfied with the experience, he still had room for more ramen.

K then moved on to the new Jalapeño and Onion Cup Ramen, which also featured the familiar Pringles logo, making it clear that this would not be any old ordinary noodles.

K added the seasoning sachets, along with some piping hot boiling water…et voilà! The resulting noodles looked and smelled amazing.

The spicy jalapeno was there in every mouthful, with a rich onion rounding out the salty flavours, and although he didn’t think it would be possible, K felt that these ones more closely resembled the chip flavour than the Sour Cream and Onion Yakisoba. This one was also brilliant with the potato chip pairing, and K immediately made a mental note to return to the supermarket to stock up on both flavours before they sell out.

K was incredibly pleased with the flavour and quality of the two new releases, and he thinks you’ll fall in love with them both too. Hopefully now the company will think about bringing some of their other more weird and wonderful Japan-exclusive flavours to the world of ramen. Which would be your dream Pringles ramen flavour? Let us know in the comments section below!

Photos © SoraNews24  
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