“The most Delicious Cup Noodle in history” – Japan’s French Cup Noodle wins our heart【Taste test】

Viva la Cup Noodle?

You could make an argument that there’s no food that’s more Japanese than Cup Noodle. It is, after all, Japan’s best-selling and best-loved instant ramen.

But the Cup Noodle brand isn’t afraid of incorporating culinary cues from far-off lands, and the latest example of that is its new French Cup Noodle series. Consisting of three different flavors, manufacturer Nissin boasts that they represent “the highest-class broth in the history of Cup Noodle,” so we were very eager to try them…so eager that we called up Nissin and twisted their arm to send us a set to taste test ahead of their official on-sale date of July 22.

To clarify, French Cup Noodle isn’t the version of Cup Noodle sold in France. They’re Cup Noodle flavors made and sold in Japan that draw inspiration from French cuisine, resulting in the new Homard Bisque, Chicken Supreme Sauce Truffle, and Sea Bream and Scallop Provencal Bouillabaisse instant ramen.

Fanciness aside, they’re as easy to make as you’d expect from Cup Noodle. Pour in hot water, wait three minutes, stir in the extra flavor oil packet, and you’re all set (minus, of course, waiting a few moments so you don’t scald your tongue).

Taste-testing duties fell to our ramen-loving Japanese-language reporter P.K. Sanjun, so let’s see how this cross-cultural cup ramen tickled, or terrified, his taste buds, starting with the Homard Bisque.

Homard is the French word for “lobster,” but even if the linguistics go over your head, the aroma of shellfish will go straight to your nose. Peeling off the paper lid and inhaling the aroma, P.K. almost thought there might be shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and other sorts of sturdy-bodied seafood swimming around in the cup.

Taking a sip of the broth, the flavor was as bold and rich as the scent had lead him to believe it would be, elegantly living up to Nissin’s claim about it being the highest-class ever developed for Cup Noodle. It wasn’t just the flavor that was special, though, but the consistency too. Cup Noodle Homard Bisque’s broth is so thick that it’s almost more like a sauce, and P.K. can confidently say anyone who’s crazy about shellfish will find a lot to love here.

Next up, the Chicken Supreme Sauce Truffle.

Full disclosure: P.K. admits that he doesn’t know what Supreme Sauce is, so let’s all take a second to review: The exaltedly named ingredient is white stock thickened with white roux and reduced with heavy cream. But even without such prior knowledge, P.K. could tell right away that this is a very creamy broth that, once again, is so thick that it borders on sauce, and the addition of truffle oil made it all the more luxuriously decadent.

P.K. found the flavor outstanding, and with cream stew being a popular winter dish in Japan, he can’t help thinking the Chicken Supreme Sauce Truffle will taste even better half a year from now, but even in midsummer, he’s more than satisfied with how good this tastes.

And last, we come to the Sea Bream and Scallop Provencal Bouillabaisse.

Unlike the other two French Cup Noodles, the Provencal Bouillabaisse’s broth isn’t at all sauce-like, and instead has a more liquid consistency that you can sip or slurp just like you would traditional ramen broth.

That might make it seem less special at first, but with no heavy creamy notes, you get a complex and compelling interplay between the seafood stock and the tang of the tomato broth base. The combined effect is amazing, P.K. says, and left him so happy that he calls it “The most delicious Cup Noodle in history.”

The entire lineup is on sale at supermarkets and convenience stores across Japan as of July 22, priced at 259 yen (US$1.60), and we’re guessing P.K. s going to be stocking up on the Bouillabaisse, and probably also picking up a few more packs of Mystery Eel Cup Noodle.

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