I’ve been slacking off on the blog again—hi, this is Kimura from North Tokyo. This May has been surprisingly cool. Some days are even chilly with just a T-shirt, but the forecast says temperatures will start rising soon.

Today, I want to introduce another instant yakisoba. I’ve already featured Peyoung and UFO on this blog, but now it’s Ippeichan’s turn. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Ippeichan, and to celebrate, they released a special edition flavor.

Ippeichan Shortcake Flavor.

I figured it must taste awful. Not in a “spicy death sauce” kind of way, but in a different, more terrifying sense. Still, against my better judgment, I took it to the register.

Now that I’m writing this post after eating it, I can still clearly remember the taste—yes, it was that unforgettable.

That’s the package in the photo. The manufacturer is Myojo, and the full name of the product is “Ippeichan Yomise no Yakisoba.” It’s labeled as a 30th anniversary item, boldly claiming: “Shortcake Flavor! Surprisingly delicious! Sweet yakisoba!”

When you open the package, you’ll find the usual sauce packets… or so you’d think.

As you can see in the photo, there’s strawberry sauce included. There’s no salty sauce or mayo like usual—just three sweet-themed packets.

The cooking method is standard, so I’ll skip the explanation.

Just pour hot water, wait 5 minutes, then drain. After that, it’s time to mix in the seasonings.

First, I opened the green-labeled powder. Usually, this would be the savory sauce, but instead, white powder came out—probably mostly sugar. I tasted a bit… and it smelled just like shortcake. And it was shockingly sweet. This stuff is dangerously sugary (lol).

Next up is the second packet.

This one is like the dried toppings you’d get in regular yakisoba or ramen—usually scallions or cabbage. But here, it’s something strawberry-ish, to fit the shortcake theme.

Finally, I opened the packet labeled “Strawberry Sauce.”

It looked exactly like jam.

Mix everything together well, and it’s done.

In the photo, it looks pale and harmless. But the flavor? Insanely sweet. How should I even describe this? Well… I’m sorry, but… it’s true that it tastes like strawberry shortcake. That part isn’t a lie.

That extreme sweetness mainly comes from the white powder in the green packet. I don’t know what it actually is, but it’s over-the-top sweet. I should’ve used less.

If I had to sum it up in one word: bad. But to be fair, the packaging didn’t lie.

Can I describe the taste somehow? Hmm… maybe like an ultra-concentrated version of the cream inside convenience store pastries?

Some people say the sweetness feels overwhelming because your brain expects savory yakisoba. I totally agree.

Myojo, the maker of this yakisoba, has many hit products. I doubt this bizarre shortcake version will hurt Ippeichan’s usual popularity. Maybe they know that too, which is why they dared to release something this extreme. And if they’re going to do it, they might as well go all-in, right? The flavor definitely lives up to the package.

As I wrote this blog, my thoughts went something like this:

“Let’s try this shortcake yakisoba!” → “This is awful…” → “What was Myojo thinking?!” → “Actually… now I kinda want regular Ippeichan.”

Maybe I’ve fallen right into the manufacturer’s trap, lol.

Either way, I had fun with it. But wow—it was SWEET！