Cup Noodle Craze Replaced by Canned Noodles

For decades, Japan was gaga over cup noodle. People ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night snacks. There are dozens of varieties and most of them are delicious. Momofuku Ando's awesome invention carried us from the dusk of WW2 into the present day. Bla bla bla.

But now the tables are turning and a new medium of noodle is feeding the masses at all hours—this time in cans, from vending machines. "Ramen in a can" debuted in May and already comes in several different flavors. Since the vending machine keeps it hot all day, you don't even need to add hot water. The noodles are made of konnyaku (gelatinized yam?) so that they don't get soggy.

The company that makes it is Fujitaka. Remember it, because it's well on its way to becoming the new Nissin.

Link

Comments

[vagrant]

I won't get back until December, but I'll give it a try. Should be good on those cold days. ¥300 - bargain! Remind me to bring some hashi.

Oh, here are the flavors:
- miso
- soy sauce
- hiyashi (cold noodle)
- curry udon
- kitsune udon

Here's a link with more info.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20070719p2g00m0dm033000c.html

[kungfupiggy]

This is so cool! Unlike foam packed ramen, cans are highly recyclable.

They even have some stews like nikujyaga, so you can make the noodles a bit more gourmet. Great for camping!

http://www.fujitaka.com/rahmen/rahmenkan_towa/rahmenkannitsuite.html

[Nobita]

I tried the canned ramen and it was actually really really good! Not only that but you can have it cold too. Right now in Tokyo (are you Tokyo?) it's ridiculously hot. Just walking down the street to the local combini is sweat inducing. So cooling down with a nice cold can of ramen? Sounds awesome to me. It even comes with a cool little foldup fork! No need to carry any chopsticks.

I love these new canned stuff. Probably horribly unhealthy for you but what the hell. The oden vending machine in Akihabara is practically a tourist attraction itself. They now have yakitori in a can too. I've tried them all and, though they ARE a bit salty, it's definitely edible if not pretty damn tasty (^_^)