Here in Japan, on Valentine's Day ladies give chocolate to the men in their life. Including friends, coworkers, and possibly also your Dad. A month later, it happens the other way round.
The onslaught of choco gift goodness starts from around midday on Christmas Day. I wish I was kidding. Once lunch is done with, Christmas is OVER and the shelves fill with Valentine delights.
I found this sweet-looking chocolate yakisoba at Village Vanguard, that cave of random awesome stuff. And I bought it for myself, as part of a recent trend amongst women who'd rather treat themselves.
That said, an instant noodle pack isn't an obvious declaration of undying love. It's labelled 'giri choco' on the front, the kind you give to people you don't have any particular affection for. Literally 'obligation chocolate'. Seems fitting.
A delicious chocolate block pattern covers the plastic pack, and all the writing's in gold because how fancy! There's a small disclaimer on one side: 'this design is just an image'. If you were expecting proper Dairy Milk in the mix, tough.
Underneath, nothing special. Your average tray of dried noodles. The noodles themselves aren't made with chocolate. I think crunchy chocosoba snacks would've been better.
The sauce packet doesn't mention the chocolate anywhere. That was a surprise. For a moment, I thought I'd been trolled with normal unsweetened yakisoba. As you'll see, sadly not.
To cook the noodles, you pour boiling water into the tray, close the lid and wait for 3 minutes. It's best to leave something (like a fork) on top so the lid stays down. A flap on the other side tears off, to reveal holes for draining the water back out.
Stir in the melty chocolate sauce, and it's ready.
Yum?
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this, so I made sure I'd already eaten something else.
The sauce is a thick, slightly bitter chocolate that took a while to mix in, and the smell was confusing. Like plain brownies, or hot chocolate without the marshmallows.
Even so, on the first bite the sweet taste wasn't as strong as I expected. Just in case I hadn't mixed well enough, I gave the yakisoba a good stir and tried again.
The chocolate's subtle, and it honestly makes the noodles seem a bit bland instead. The taste doesn't linger, so you're left with plain noodles once you start chewing. Not so much chocolate yakisoba as chocolate AND THEN yakisoba. I see why this is an 'obligation' gift now.
I persevered with a few more bites. Then I binned the lot, and ate some proper chocolate to cheer myself up. Happy Valentine's Day to me.
Verdict: 2/10. I'm not in love.