Cup Noodle like you’ve never tasted before.

In Japanese, there’s a term known as “makaizo” which literally means “devilish modification” and refers to customizing something in a very drastic way. It could be rigging up a custom gaming PC with all kinds of effects and cooling systems or taking a standard recipe and making it unrecognizable with changes in ingredients or their amounts.

For example, on Japanese social media, you can find a bunch of hacks people make with Cup Noodle. It’s gotten to the point where even the instant ramen’s maker Nissin wanted to join in on the fun, and so they’ve made makaizo versions of their four standard flavors, scheduled for release on 8 September.

Our writer P.K. Sanjun was able to get some advance cups for a sneak peek at these magically modified meals. He’s generally not an adventurous eater though, and was cautiously optimistic about what’s been done to the Cup Noodle flavors he normally loves.

Here’s the lineup:

▼ Cup Noodle Motsunabe Flavor with garlic and chives

▼ Curry Noodle Garlimayo Curry Flavor with garlic and mayonnaise

▼ Seafood Noodle Seafood Monja Flavor with mentaiko, cheese, and Worcestershire sauce

▼ Chili Tomato Noodle Shrimp Chili Flavor with chili bean paste, miso, ginger, and garlic

P.K. started with the standard Cup Noodle, which was modified in the style of motsunabe, which is a hot pot of tripe, cabbage, and garlic chives in a flavorful soup. The Cup Noodle version simulates this with the addition of garlic and garlic chives.

When he opened the lid, he was hit with a garlicky aroma that really did remind him of authentic motsunabe. Even the taste was pure motsunabe to him, with almost no trace of typical Cup Noodle. Honestly, this felt more like a completely different product than a modification, but it totally worked.

However, it was downhill from there. The other three were not really bad, but lacked the magic of the first and were ultimately a step down from their original versions, according to P.K.

The Seafood Noodle was a particularly flavorful calamity, with the really bold attempt to combine Worcestershire sauce and red ginger to try and simulate monjayaki, which is Tokyo’s more runny answer to the batter-filled savoury pancake dish okonomiyaki.

It was strange because it looked like regular Seafood Noodle but tasted completely different, which is a rather impressive feat. It also seemed to capture the essence of monjayaki, but just didn’t feel up to Cup Noodle’s standards of deliciousness overall.

The other two weren’t as drastically modified compared to the first ones. The Garlimayo Curry has just a subtle taste of mayonnaise, and the Chili Tomato had a ginger tinge to the overall spiciness. They were both fine, but also felt inferior to their original versions.

▼ Garlimayo Curry

▼ Chili Tomato

In the end, the Cup Noodle Motsunabe Flavor got P.K.’s highest recommendation, and the Seafood Monja Flavor could be worth trying once, just for the wild experience. Garlimayo and Shrimp Chili were good, but only about 75-percent as good as the original versions. They’d probably be fine for hardcore fans of those flavors looking for a little change of pace.

Even if they were sort of a confusing mess, P.K. thought it was great that Nissin is constantly out there being adventurous and trying new things. It doesn’t always work out, but it is absolutely worth doing.

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