This Nissin DanDan Cup Noodle came out in 2023. It seems to be a regular item in the Cup Noodle lineup for Japan as it is still listed on their website. I've had a few dandan or tantan type instant noodles before and wondered how different this one would be. Their website states this noodle cup is characterized by the richness of sesame seeds, the tingly spiciness of Szechuan pepper and the aroma and sweetness of peanut butter. Tan Tan noodles are a standard dish from Szechuan province in China and they are a tasty dish. A few extra touches such as crushed cashews, bok choy, and diced zasai pickles add bit of texture and crunch to the preparation. Ground pork is the usual meat that goes with this dish and it is there in the stock and there are ground pork nuggets included.
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| 3/4 view of the cup. It is very unadorned and boldly black. Big Dan Dan characters name the cup. |
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| View of the lid of the cup. The cup shows a thick soup covered in toppings. Bits of bok choy and pickle add green and there are lighter bits of cashew and pieces of ground pork. |
I wasn't quite sure what to make of this when I first saw it but I decided to give it a try. The cup boldly proclaims you should eat up the soup and that the Szechuan pepper and sesame seeds are delicious. Crunchy Crunchy say the characters that are highlighted by the green impact graphic. The standard Cup noodle vertical dash marks go all around the cup.
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| Front of the cup. Dandan anyone? |
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| Spiciness of 2. |
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| Ingredients, preparation directions, warnings, manufacturers information and allergens at the bottom. This one has lots of nuts. |
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| Nutritional information. |
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| Opening the lid reveals lots of reddish brown soup base powder. You can see the bright green of the choy and bits of cashew (I thought they were peanuts originally). |
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| I added in boiling water to the fill line, closed the lid and let it sit for 3 minutes. When it was rehydrated you could see all of the sesame seeds, choy and zasai pickle. |
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| I then stirred the soup really well to make sure the powder and toppings were evenly distributed and not clumped together. |
What can I say? They didn't lie. This is a pretty tasty soup and noodle combo. When I first opened the cup I could definitely smell peanuts, but tantan noodles often have a peanutty smell even if it is just toasted sesame and sesame paste involved. They did include peanut butter in this though. The nutty smell did fade once the boiling water was added, which was an interesting effect.
The first taste of the soup was both salty and spicy with the typical numbing spiciness from the Szechuan pepper. There was a mild spiciness to it that was more of an enhancement to the flavour rather than just being hot. The spiciness does linger on your tongue for awhile afterwards! The broth had a creaminess to it and it was loaded with flavour. Sesame seeds were everywhere in it. Bits of choy, ground pork, and the pickle livened up the texture and colour of the soup. The cashews did add crunch to many of my bites of noodle. I think cashews were used instead of peanuts to give it more sweetness and possibly richness. Finally, the medium sized thin noodles were typical for Cup Noodle and had a decent bite and chew to them.
This is a good tasting Cup Noodle. I like the regular Curry and Shoyu flavours the most still for their more typical flavour and comfort, but this is a great change from those if something diffferent is desired.
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| Closeup of the noodles show some pickle and ground meat. |
More TanTan Noodle Reviews!
- Maruchan Seimen Uma Kara TanTan Ramen Noodle Bowl
- Nissin RAOH Shirunashi Tantanmen (日清ラ王 汁なし担々麺) Review
- Ace Cook - Cup To Drink, Luxury Tan Tan Spicy Instant Noodle Cup Review
- Famous Ramen Shop Series Nakiryu Dan Dan Cup Noodle Review (Michelin Star winner)
- Maruchan Menzukuri Dan Dan Bowl Noodles
- Nissin DanDan Cup Noodle (black cup) Review
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