Acecook Demon Mayo Pepper Mazesoba / 鬼マヨペッパーまぜそば

When I see things like this in the convenience stores of Japan, I just cannot pass by and forget about it. I am a sucker for extraordinary, weird and stupid instant ramen products and I would firmly put this one in that overarching category. They are even making fun of themselves on the lid by calling it literally “mayomayomayonnaise pepperpepperpepper”, as if it was not clear enough that you are going to get A LOT of mayonnaise and black pepper here. The mode of transportation for the mayonnaise and black pepper is a mazesoba style, dry mixing ramen dish, not dissimilar to pasta dishes. Officially, the name of this dish by Acecook is “demon mayonnaise black pepper mazesoba” (鬼マヨペッパーまぜそば), really driving home what it is all about here while showcasing all 3 writing systems the Japanese language has to offer.

Content

A bowl full of noodles, with a small lid for draining the water
A silver sachet with the black pepper furikake
A red sachet with mayonnaise

Preparation

Open large lid and take out all sachets.
Fill bowl with boiling water at least to the line and close the lid.
Wait for 5 minutes, then open small lid and pour out water, while retaining all the noodles.
Add content of both sachets. Add them so that they form a heart on top of your noodles.
Mix vigorously and then enjoy.

Review

Is something stupid if it works? It's more of a philosophical question than one that probably cannot be answered with a bowl of instant ramen. But I can say that this bowl, that looked like a stupid idea, totally works.

It is like a junk food form of cacio e pepe pasta. Imagine pasta with a heavy helping of kewpie mayo, a lot of stale old black pepper and a crumbled cube of Knorr or Maggi bouillon for saltiness and miscellaneous flavor. I am pretty sure that would recreate this thing here quite closely. While that sounds bad, it definitely is not. The flavors are quite intense and you feel like you got something for your money, especially in terms of mayonnaise and calories.

If you are someone who likes to add mayo, especially Japanese Kewpie mayo, on all kinds of things, then this might be an instant ramen bowl to your liking. I personally enjoy this type of junk style ramen, not only in instant form. But I know, there will be lots of people recoiling at the idea of this dish.