Strawberry shortcake instant yakisoba noodles are set to cause a stir this Christmas

Dessert noodles return to Japan with a brand-new experimental flavor.

In Japan, Christmas Eve is the biggest date night of the year. Traditionally, loving couples go out for a romantic dinner at a fancy restaurants, capping the meal with a slice of strawberry shortcake, with its sweetness and color scheme being a fitting metaphor for the yuletide season.

Of course, if you don’t have a special someone, you might want to avoid all those lovey-dovey couples by staying in and just eating some instant noodles. That doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the holiday fun, though, thanks to the latest offering from Myojo Foods, maker of the Ippei-chan brand of instant yakisoba.

In December, Myojo will be adding a completely unexpected flavor to the Ippei-chan line: shortcake. The company has gone all-out in overhauling the ingredients to fit with the dessert theme, starting with the sauce, which combines the standard savory beef-extract sauce with fruit paste, mango chutney, and vanilla flavoring. The Ippei-chan mayo (which has gotten Myojo in trouble before) will also be infused with vanilla flavoring, and the noodles will also come with a topping pack containing strawberries (presumably dried), yogurt cubes, and brightly colored sugar.

While putting all that on yakisoba noodles is a pretty out-there concept, Myojo also released a chocolate-flavored Ippei-chan last year, and presumably wouldn’t be taking another swing at dessert pasta unless its previous effort sold reasonably well. We’ll have to wait until the shortcake flavor Ippei-chan goes on sale December 5, priced at 180 yen (US$1.60), to see if this new effort is worth adding to our Christmas Eve spread this year.

Source: Myojo Foods via IT Media
Top image: Myojo Foods

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