Category: Food

Ramen Universes Beyond: Korea Special

September 27, 2026

Two different Korean ramen collaborations today. Both were also sold in the USA and Australia, so if they sound appealing check your local stores.

Aespa is a K-Pop band that earlier this year did a promotion with the Korean company Nongshim to promote their instant ramen brand Shin Ramyun. Above is a cup ramen we purchased recently in NYC, in the ‘creamy spicy’ flavour.

It came with noodles and two packets of powder, one of which was obviously spicy. Since I’m mortally weak to spice, this was to be a KLS-only taste test.

She tried it, and her review is: “As creamy and smooth as NingNing’s voice. It was pretty good!”

NingNing (who neither myself nor KLS had heard of until a few minutes ago) is a member of Aespa and the above photo shows a double-sided photocard of her which was printed to promote this ramen collaboration.

We only purchased a single cup ramen but it turns out some four-packs of the brick version include these photocards! I’m no fan of Aespa (or this ramen) but I’m going to keep my eyes open for one of these packs next time I see it in a store…

The above is another Nongshim collaboration ramen, this time with K-Pop Demon Hunters. This is the USA version of the product, and we bought the only meatless one – ‘Superstar’ flavour – featuring the character Rumi on the packaging.

It looked like every other ramen when opened, with the exception of (only) four tiny stars that were included. The packaging suggests a deep red creamy broth but once prepared it was clear and didn’t stick to the noodles at all.

Since the packaging said it was spicy I once again chickened out and let KLS review it, and her verdict is: “It was surprisingly bland but the stars were nice and chewy!”

Once again it seems I purchased the wrong format of this product, since certain versions of the 5-pack of brick ramen come with collectible stickers! They’re small and cute and there’s forty different ones. Since they’re the perfect size for a postcard I guess I’ll be looking for these as well 🙂

If you’re wondering about the absence of chicken ramen on this blog it’s because finding new versions has become almost impossible. Do not despair, since my search never wanes and I’m confident the series will return one day!

Some More Food Candy

September 20, 2026

Todsy I made for four new food candy kits from Japan. As you’ll see, some worked better than others…

This is called Nerikyan World (I don’t know what that means either) and is a kit where you mold taffy-like candy into various shapes.

The 5 candy blocks were slightly hard at first, but softened with a bit of kneading. It was easy to mold, but very sticky.

There’s no specific instructions: you can just make what you like. I used the mold for the corn but the panda was my original creation. The candy all seemed to taste the same – very sweet – and wasn’t bad at all. I actually ate most of it without even molding it!

I got creative with a squirrel, for which I combined black and white to make grey, before using the mold. It was extremely difficult to remove, which is why the final creation looks a bit derpy 🙂

I think kids would like this one.

Next was this Jelly Gemstone kit, which claims to make rainbow gummies. The packaging looked promising, but could I reproduce this level of detail?

This was the most complex kit, with steps including refrigeration and microwaving. It included 4 plastic trays, 5 bags of crystals and ‘rings’ made from cardboard in which to display the ‘gemstones’.

The method involved making a coloured suspension in water, then use a dropper to add it to a mold.

Various colours were made with different bags of crystal, but either the instructions were incorrect or (more likely) my translator made a mistake since only one type of colour required microwaving.

I did my best and thought they looked promising, and put them aside for ten minutes (as instructed) to solidify… which they didn’t! So I left them for another fifteen minutes after which most were still liquid.

I waited longer but only the above gemstone ended up solidifying. Or so I thought, since when I removed it from the mold it disintegrated quickly:

In other words, I completely failed in making the kit correctly! I tried eating it anyway, but it had an unpleasant chemical taste. Surely I mixed the ingredients incorrectly?

Maybe not one for kids, unless the parents want to supervise 🙂

Time for an easy one: Chiikawa Toy Beer. We’ve made a few drink kits like this before, but this was first time time it was beer and came with a stein!

As with previous drinks this was trivial to make: just add water and pour the single packet of crystals in. Stirring wasn’t even required.

It worked extremely well. The crystals dissolved quickly, creating immediate bubbles and a frothy cap, which rose so much I thought it would overflow.

It kept bubbling long after the froth had risen, and was slightly carbonated when drunk. Unfortunately the taste was disgusting, and down the sink it went 🙂

I think this one would be a hit with kids. Not only is making it fun, but it could teach them the ‘joy of beer’ at a young age, and they’d get a cute stein to keep forever.

Last was this one, which translates to Gummy Tangle. Humorously the packaging notes it’s ‘full of calcium’! I haven’t paid attention before but I wonder if all of these make nutritional claims?

This one was unusual. Looking at the packaging it seems you pull a gummy tape out of liquid?! As with many of these kits it comes with a tray, several bags of powder and a few disposable implements

One powder is dissolved to make a coloured liquid, and the other becomes a frothy foam. Then another powder is floated on top of the liquid while you use the straw to lift it out from below, which results in this:

It doesn’t exactly match the packaging, but it mostly works! This is a sour tasting product but I liked the foam a lot. It’s frankly a bit disgusting in texture but probably my favourite of the ones I made today.

I bet kids would love this one, because it’s weird and messy and a bit gross but ultimately tastes pretty good 🙂

Japan Extra: Cakes

June 16, 2026

I sent the above pic to a couple of people the other day and it got quite a reaction, so here’s a whole entry of impressive cake photos.

When I took the photo I asked the girl which one was best and she indicated the two above. These cakes – each not much larger than a cupcake – are astonishingly detailed and I wonder what’s inside. If KLS was here I’d buy one and she could eat it 🙂

The first shot was taken in Osaka and when I went to a display from the same company (bakery?) in Tokyo yesterday their display was a little different, although in the same style. The cup/spoon one is interesting. Since it’s all edible I wonder if you can use the spoon to eat the cake?

A nearby display had these, which looked almost liquid and glistened like oil. I have no idea how the effect was achieved but it was very eye-catching.

Here’s some apple cakes from a different baker. Once again these are cupcake sized – smaller than a real apple. I recall Kristin got one of these once. They’re so shiny and reflective in the display case it seems a waste to eat them!

Nearby another baker did green apples in the same style as above only with even more accuracy (note the stalk and leaf). As mind bogglingly impressive as they are, the transparent material on the melon cake next to it caught my eye…

These were in the same case. I believe it is representing a plum with ice frozen over it. If you look next to the cakes on the left you can see the cross-section, so it’s a small cubic cake with a layer of frosting (!) on top the has incredible detail, such as the transparency of the ‘ice’ layer. As I was photographing this I looked further along in the case and my mind was blown:

These are cakes. Completely edible. Here’s a closeup:

Even up close it looks like a velvet store display for jewelry. And the necklace is so realistic! I asked the girl if the necklace was edible and she laughed and said it was ‘crystal gummy’! A gummy necklace!

All these photos were taken in the dessert levels of department stores in Tokyo and Osaka. These are very prestigious food halls in very prestigious stores that cater to tens of millions of potential customers in a country where presentation is extremely important. My point is you don’t find anything like this in your typical bakery over here, which makes them all the more special.

Robot Claw