Nissin Cup Noodle Chili Chili Chili Tomato 日清 カップヌードル チリチリチリトマト
Nissin Cup Noodle Chili Chili Chili Tomato in all its red glory.
Nissin is setting their aim again towards the spicy food lover market which has been growing and growing in the recent years in Japan. To make it really clear what this instant ramen cup is all about, they added two “chili” to the regular Chili Tomato Cup Noodle and turned it into the mouthful “Chili Chili Chili Tomato Cup Noodle”. While the original Chili Tomato cup is very much more a tomato soup than a significantly spicy item, the added chili paste on top of the instant ramen cup promises 20 times more spiciness compared to the original Nissin Chili Tomato.
But is it actually spicy? Or so spicy that you can't taste anything else other than pain? Does it still taste like tomato? Let’s find out!
Chili Chili Paste increases the spiciness by factor 20!
Content
The first thing that meets the eye when you are about to open the cup noodles, is the chili chili paste which is glued to the top of the cup. The text on the paste packaging warns that the cup noodles will be 20 times more spicy if you add the whole paste to the cup. Considering that the original Chili Tomato Cup Noodles are not terribly spicy, it is not clear if this is a warning that should be taken seriously. The actual recommendation on the side of the cup is to add only half to make it 10 times more spicy than normal.
Inside of the Nissin Cup Noodle Chili Chili Chili Tomato before adding water.
The inside looks quite a bit like a regular Chili Tomato Cup Noodle with the soup powder spread all over the noodles and a topping of dry frozen bits of tomato, some corn kernels, a few bits of green onion and, very prominently, cubes of processed chicken meat. Yum.
Inside of the Nissin Cup Noodle Chili Chili Chili Tomato after adding water and chili chili paste.
Preparation
Fill boiling water to the line on the inside of the cup.
Wait 3 minutes.
Open lid and add the chili paste. Stir and enjoy.
Pulling noodles out of the Chili Chili Chili Tomato noodle cup.
Review
The big question here from the beginning: Is it actually spicy or does it just say spicy on the label.
To answer it right away: Yes, it is spicy. Do not slurp, if you inhale some of the soup, you’re gonna have a bad time. Better to take “bites” of your noodles and leave the slurping to some other ramen dishes.
How spicy is it really? I would say, spicy enough to be a challenge for people who don’t usually eat spicy food and satisfyingly spicy enough even for spice lovers. But it is not an inedibly spicy product that is spicy only for the sake of being spicy, it actually is packed with chili flavor. In short, I would maybe put it somewhere on a 6-7 out of 10 on the spiciness scale.
Quick peek at the dark red and spicy soup.
Compared to the original Chili Tomato cup, the tomato flavor moves into the background and a very strong and fragrant chili pepper flavor takes over. The deeply red soup has a certain thickness to it, which allows it to stick well to the fried noodles. After having had a few cups with disappointing noodles from Europe, it was eye opening just how good the noodles are in Japan, even though it is supposed to be the same product from the same brand.
The whole cup is very satisfying to eat, from start to finish. The first bite comes with the surprising realization of the actual spiciness, the following bites enable you to appreciate the actual chili and tomato flavor and the end makes you wish for some rice to dump into the leftover soup. If you’re into spicy food, this is definitely for you and probably the only other good spicy Japanese instant ramen besides the Mokou Tanmen Nakamoto cups. But even the regular cup noodle enjoyer, this is a cup worth checking out.
8.5 out of 10
