2016 was the 45th anniversary of Cup Noodle. Nissin released several new 'rich' flavours to celebrate - including 'odourless garlic oxtail soup' and 'luxuriously thick imitation shark fin soup'. Don't those sound delicious?
All the existing flavours were given brand new cup designs as well, with colourful fireworks.
The main attraction, however, was the big (BIG) 'Mystery Meat' edition.
I was lucky to get my hands on this noodle madness at the time. When the 'Mystery Meat Festival' flavour first came out, demand far exceeded supply. Cup Noodle had to put sales on hold - after only 3 days - until they'd produced enough to satisfy hungry instant ramen fans with a specific taste for mysteries.
As soon as I saw it back on a conbini shelf, I snapped one up. I suspect I'm not the only one who did. The tray I nabbed it from looked like it was stacked much higher before I got there.
The 'mystery meat' in this Cup Noodle is an extra big helping (10x) of cubed mince. Minced what, exactly, nobody seems to know. That's where the name comes from.
The food cubes in standard Cup Noodles have been nicknamed 'mystery meat' for a while. The label on this one mentions chicken extract and pork extract, but no definite meat.
Let's take a look under the lid, shall we?
That's what ten times the normal amount of meat in a Cup Noodle looks like.
I make that around 35-40 bits by sight, which puts the 'standard' number of meat cubes at 7-8. Wow. I was expecting not to be able to see any noodle underneath, but you can just spot them. And it looks like there's also more spring onion in there than usual.
(I don't have a comparable photo from after the hot water went in. Because it's a 'BIG' Cup Noodle, once you mix the mystery meat cubes in they mostly disappear.)
It definitely tastes different to your average Cup Noodle. The 'pepper shoyu' soy sauce seasoning that covers the meat cubes is sure noticeable. They're kinda spicy. Also chewy. I wouldn't be surprised to discover they're just meat-flavoured tofu in the end.
At the time I first reviewed this, I didn't think I'd get the chance to eat this again, so I didn't give it a score. As of 2021 - 5 years later! - I'm happy to tell you that the Mystery Meat became a more regular Cup Noodle flavour. It's also been released in a Cup Rice version.
But Nissin still won't reveal the true mystery of the meat, after all this time. I just hope the Soylent Green Cup Noodle never becomes a reality. (For the record, my favourite Cup Noodle is still Cheese Curry.)