Nissin Afuri Ramen: Salt-Based Yuzu Flavor Cup Noodles
Recently when I shopped at a 7-Eleven convenience store, I found Nissin Afuri Ramen for the first time in a while lined up on the shelf in the instant noodles aisle.
Afuri is the name of a popular ramen restaurant chain based in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, which has locations not only in Tokyo but also overseas, including the United States, Singapore, Portugal, and Hong Kong.
As there are English translations on their official website, along with the original Japanese descriptions, you can learn more about Afuri there if you are interested.
Nissin Afuri Ramen
As you can guess from the above, this Nissin Afuri beautifully recreates the ramen shop Afuri’s signature noodle dish.
The cup noodles have been around for quite some time, periodically put on the market.
Nissin Afuri Ramen is a cup of salt-based Yuzu citrus flavor ramen, which comes in 2 versions; non-spicy and spicy.
Incidentally, what I came across and picked up this time is the spicy one named Kara-Kurenai Ramen (辛紅ラーメン: meaning Spicy Red Ramen).
Features/Taste
Even though this Kara-Kurenai Ramen (Price: 220 yen) is Geki-Kara (激辛) or super spicy, I found the heat pleasant. In other words, the spiciness was not overpowering to me.
Based on the product description on the cup, unlike ordinary ramen noodles, the wheat noodles contain Sansho pepper, while the soup base is Tori-Chintan (鶏清湯: Clear Chicken Broth).
The Tori Chintan broth is light-tasting but full of the umami of chicken, to which the Yuzu citrus & Togarashi chili pepper mix gives a delightful kick, making the overall taste addictive.
Content/Ingredients
By the way, this cup comes with an extra flavor oil sachet that is 後入れ/put after cooking the noodles.
According to the ingredient list on the side of the cup, the Nissin Afuri Ramen’s broth consists of chicken seasoning, sugars, spices, flavoring, flavor oil, fish powder, lard, salt, vegetable oil, Katsuobushi bonito seasoning, Yuzu citrus peel, and powdered soy sauce.
Meanwhile, the garnishes consist of seasoned chicken meat, red chili peppers, and green onions.
