Sanyo Nagasaki Chanpon Cup of Noodles Review

When I saw this particular cup of noodles I was kind of taken by how colorful the toppings on the ramen were and I always like having lots of vegetables.  I figured that it was made in the style of Nagasaki chanpon, but I didn't really know much about it other than the fact that chanpon was a meal for sumo wrestlers.  It turns out that chanpon, or champon, has a long history in Nagaaski.  A Chinese restaurant, Shikairou, first served chanpon noodles in Nagasaki in 1899.  A chanpon has a great broth (from pork and seafood), thick noodles, and lots of stir-fried toppings that include meat (often pork), slices of fish cake, squid slices (calamari), cabbage, beansprouts, carrot, and green onions.  I'm definitely trying this noodle dish if I'm ever in Nagasaki as it sounds delicious.

This chanpon comes in a very colourful cup.  All bright and yellow with a nice blue trim around the lid and the top edge of the cup. Great use of colour and Japanese characters with a red restaurant curtain on the lid.

Front view of the cup.  Bold red on yellow print saying Nagasaki Chanpon.  The restaurant curtain has a phrase Goutouchi Mashimashi.  At the bottom of the cup is a photo of the colourful chanpon toppings with prominently displayed thick noodles.

Top the the lid.  Great use of color. It puts me in a good mood to eat.

Nutritional information and ingredients.

Side of the cup with seafood warnings and preparation direction do and don'ts.

Lifting the lid reveals pink fishcake, corn, lots of cabbage, and seaweed strips.  The noodles are thicker than normal.  There wasn't a heavy seafood smell or anything like that on opening.

Closeup of the dried ingredients.

I added boiling water to the fill line and waited four minutes before popping the top open.  Looks yummy.

This was a large cup of noodles.  When I opened the lid after rehydrating it, there was a nice savoury smell that wafted out.  The broth was a rich tasting broth from the pork and seafood components.  Despite the seafood components, it was not overly fishy in any manner.  This soup was a nice change from the regular shoyu, didn't seem too salty, and was just plain tasty.  The vegetables rehydrated nicely and there were lots of little pieces of cabbage and a few bits of fish cake mainly for colour.  Great soup and firm, chewy noodles made this a cup of noodle I wish I had more than one of.  This cup of noodle gets two thumbs up.

Closeup of the noodles and toppings.  Bon appetit!

More cup noodle / ramen reviews and Japanese pop culture.