I always keep a few Maruchan Instant Lunch cups at work. They're perfect for those days when you need to grab a quick, but satisfying lunch. The flavor I eat most often is their shrimp flavor.

What is it?

It's a Styrofoam cup containing dried ramen noodles, peas, carrots, and whole (but very tiny) shrimp. After you add boiling water, you get a delicious noodle soup with shrimp and veggies.

How do you make the soup?

It's simple, once you get through all the packaging. First you have to remove the cardboard cover which contains the instructions and the nutritional information. This is easy to do; the cover easily tears off. But then you have to remove the plastic that wraps around the cup. This is not so easy to do. The plastic is very tight, with no pull tab. Fingers and teeth can give it their best shot; the plastic's not budging. I end up using the "stick a knife point in it" method. Or a fork tine, or a scissor point. You get the idea. Then there's the next step - pulling the paper lid back halfway. At least the paper lid comes with a pull tab. Finally, we have arrived!

Now add boiling water, to the fill line on the inside of the cup. Then you want to close the paper lid securely and let the cup stand for three minutes. You're supposed to be able to simply pull the paper lid back down and tuck the pull tab back under the lip of the cup. But that does not make a tight enough seal. Since you want the ingredients to absorb much of the water, and the soup to stay hot while this is happening, you really want a tight seal. So I weigh down the paper lid with pretty much anything I have handy. A coaster works well. As does a small book or a saucer. If nothing else is available I suggest using your fork and/or spoon to weigh down the lid. It's a bit of a balancing act, but it works.

After three minutes have passed, remove the lid (carefully... the soup's hot!) and stir. You'll find that the previously dry, thin, crunchy noodles have fluffed up considerably. The peas and carrots look a bit more "normal" and even those teeny tiny shrimps have a bit of volume to them now. That's because approximately half of the liquid has been absorbed into the other ingredients.

How do you eat this soup?

Well, traditionally ramen noodles would be eaten with chopsticks. But assuming you don't have any handy, I suggest a fork and a spoon. Note that I said "and" not "or". That's because these noodles are very long. And I find them difficult to eat using a spoon. So I usually eat most of the noodles with a fork. I twirl them around as if they were spaghetti. I use my spoon for the liquid, the veggies, and the shrimp. At the end, when there's only broth left, I drink it right from the cup. Of course, you may find other methods of consumption work better for you.

How does it taste?

I really like this soup. The noodles, in particular, are delicious. And the shrimps, though very small, are actually pretty good. The broth is pretty good, with a somewhat spicy, salty, beef flavor. The veggies are just "OK" - they don't really add a whole lot of flavor.


Each cup of soup contains 330 calories, 14g of fat, a whopping 1300mg of sodium, and only 2g of fiber. Not the healthiest of choices, that's for sure. That's why this is an occasional lunch for me, not an everyday thing.

These soups cost around 50 cents each, at Sam's Club, a bit more at the grocery store. In either case, they're a good choice for an inexpensive, yet satisfying meal.



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