Butamen: Oyatsu Company’s Best-Selling Mini Cup Ramen
Ramen is a quintessential Japanese noodle soup and a wide variety of instant ramen is available at supermarkets, drugstores, and convenience stores in Japan.
Actually, instant ramens are not only sold in the instant noodles aisle of such Japanese stores but in Japan, you can also find them in the snack and candy section for kids.
Representative examples of such ramen snacks include “Baby Star Ramen (ベビースターラーメン)” and “Butamen (ブタメン)”, but I wrote about the former Baby Star Ramen before, so today I will talk about the latter “Buta-Men”, literally “Pork Noodles”.
Oyatsu Company Butamen Mini Instant Ramen
While Baby Star Ramen is a snack like deep-fried noodles, Butamen is a mini cup of instant ramen for kids, both of which actually are produced and sold by the Japanese food company “Oyatsu Company (おやつカンパニー)”.
Butamen was first introduced in 1993 and became a big hit among children, and now the series is one of the best-selling mini cup ramens in Japan.
Butamen is not just a great treat for kids, but even adults can enjoy it when a little bit hungry. Even though Butamen is a snack marketed mainly towards children, it has delicious umami and is authentically tasty.
What is better, a cup of Butamen only costs 80 yen (about 0.8 USD), which is one primary reason why it is loved by children.
Flavors
Currently, there are 4 regular flavors in the Butamen series, which are as follows.
Tonkotsu (とんこつ: Pork Bone)
| Oyatsu Company Butamen Tonkotsu, 37g × 15pcs |
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| Amazon.co.jp |
Butamen Tonkotsu is the original flavor of the series. The pork bone broth is somewhat light but full of umami. By the way, I love this flavor the most in the series.
Shoyu (しょうゆ: Soy Sauce)
| Oyatsu Company Butamen Shoyu, 31g × 15pcs |
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| Amazon.co.jp |
Butamen Shoyu is one of the regular flavors of the series. The soy sauce-based soup has a nice fragrance that stimulates the appetite.
Tanshio (タン塩: Salted Beef Tongue)
| Oyatsu Company Butamen Tanshio, 37g × 15pcs |
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| Amazon.co.jp |
Butamen Tanshio is lightly seasoned but features an umami taste from the grilled beef tongue, which spreads in the mouth.
Curry (カレー)
| Oyatsu Company Butamen Curry, 37g × 15pcs |
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| Amazon.co.jp |
Butamen Curry is characterized by its somewhat thick, umami-rich, curry-flavored soup.
