What’s it like to eat noodles that are over half the height of an average human?
We’ve eaten a lot of noodles over the years, so whenever we find a new variety that we’ve never tried before, we always jump at the chance to test it out.
That’s what happened the other day when we were browsing the Internet and came across a company called Uchida Seimen, which purports to sell “the longest ramen in history”.
While it’s unclear whether this illustrious title refers to the history of the company or the world, there’s no denying these are the longest noodles we’ve ever seen — and mind you, we’ve eaten 90-centimetre long noodles before.
Needless to say, we immediately ordered a three-pack set for 1,500 yen (US$11.30), and when it arrived, the noodles turned out to be too long for one person to measure, so we had to make do by measuring the length of a bundle when laid out folded on top of itself.
Our measurements above were a little inaccurate, because Uchida Seimen assures us that these noodles measure in at a total length of 110 centimetres. That’s over a metre long, or if you’re going by imperial measurements, 3.6 feet, which is more than half the height of an average human.
Just looking at the noodles made us wonder whether we’d be able to cook them in a regular pot, but the instructions confidently stated that all we needed to do was drop them in a large pot of boiling water. We were able to loosen the bundle by hand before dropping the noodles in as well, to stop them from getting all tangled up during the cooking process.
The preparation is quick and easy — simply empty the broth included in the pack into a bowl, add 300 millilitres (10 ounces) of hot water and mix, then boil the noodles for 40-60 seconds, rinse, and place them into the bowl.
You don’t have to get all fancy, but seeing as we can’t help ourselves, we added some bamboo shoots, seaweed, sprouts, chashu pork, and an egg to create a restaurant-worthy bowl of ramen.
▼ The first thing we noticed was the soup, which looked to be rich and flavourful.
A sip of the broth proved it tasted as good as it looked, but then we turned our attention over to the noodles, standing on tiptoe to stretch them as high above the bowl as possible.
▼ Our bowl has never looked so far away.
Gently easing the mound back to the bowl, we dipped it into the broth for a moment before bringing it to our lips, where we slurped…and slurped…and slurped. The length of the noodles was surprisingly noticeable, creating a full mouthfeel, enhanced by the satisfying, chewy texture of each noodle.
Despite their length, these noods were well-balanced in flavour when paired with the broth, and they were easy to eat…and incredibly delicious!
As we slurped up the last strand of noodle in the bowl, we realised a unique benefit of ordering long noodles like this. The extra length makes the meal slightly more filling than a regular bowl of noodles, so it’s like ordering kaede, or a second serving of noodles at a ramen restaurant.
Making noodles extra long cuts out the need to order kaede, so now we have high hopes that we might start seeing long varieties like these on menus at restaurants soon. Just imagine them topped with the gyoza ingredients at this restaurant — that would be a match made in noodle heaven!
Related: Uchida Seimen
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