Ah, summertime: that period of the year for road trips, pool parties, outdoor concerts, and stuffing marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate into every conceivable sweet. Like cereal, cookies, and ramen.
Wait. Ramen?
Yes. Ramen.
In recent years, Nissin’s Cup Noodles have provided us with unusual sweet and savory mashups: pumpkin spice, breakfast, and everything bagel. And now s’mores have joined the noodley family. I was pleasantly surprised by the pumpkin spice variety, so I was eager to try this one.
When I remove the lid, I see the usual dry noodles with mini marshmallows on top. It’s an amusing and tantalizing sight: I enjoy s’mores-flavored treats, and the marshmallows remind me of what is supposed to be coming. There’s also a brown and tan powder, which I presume is the chocolate and graham crackers.
I pour water into the cup to the fill line, then microwave it for three minutes as instructed (I’m very good at following rules), and it still bubbles over.
Unlike an actual s’more, there are no gooey marshmallows to enjoy after cooking. Instead, they have dissolved with the rest of the ingredients. Oh well, that means the flavor will just incorporate with the other ingredients to taste like a delectable campfire treat, right?
Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to taste any s’mores flavor. I don’t taste graham crackers or chocolate, and marshmallows don’t really have a flavor. There’s just a generic sweetness mixed with a generic savoriness. The list of ingredients includes garlic powder and onion powder. I don’t detect those (thankfully), but I still taste a bit of a usual Cup Noodles umami.
This product is weird because what else would you expect from s’mores ramen? But more than anything, it’s disappointing. The noodles don’t really taste like what they’re supposed to. If I want a sweet treat, I can grab one of the million other s’mores items. If I want something savory, there are better options.
Look, these noodles won’t ruin your summer. They’re better than a sunburn or a mosquito bite. Instead, they’re more like that one book you read one day during summer vacation but can’t remember what it’s about or that nondescript snow cone you got at the amusement park. Campfire S’mores Cup Noodles just aren’t that interesting or memorable.
Purchased Price: $1.18
Size: 3.07 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 container) 400 calories, 14 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 800 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 9 grams of sugar (including 9 grams of added sugar), and 7 grams of protein.
WHY! ?? … ?
I always boil the water separate, and pour over, then cover for 3 minutes. I think the marshmallows would stay intact that way. Basically the same method for hot chocolate packets, (except for the 3 minute wait) and the little sugary gems hold their shape unless stirred vigorously.
At first I thought you might have mixed up the microwave and pour over times, but the instructions do indeed tell you 3 in the microwave (confirmed by watching a video review)
The odd thing here is that I have a cup of chicken noodles and they say to boil for 2 minutes 15 seconds (for 1000W microwaves, most newer ones are more then that, so even less time) or the pour over and steep for 3 minutes. It would be interesting to see what they looked like microwaved at 2m 15s, or the pour over and steep method.
ps, to Mark…
The video review I watched also boiled over, so it’s not just you. He had been to a few rodeos before and put the whole cup inside a bowl before zapping it, It looked like it caught a couple ounces of liquid, including a lot of flavoring, which seems like a big waste