Japan Beats The Summer Heat With Cold Cup Noodles

Cup Noodles are a salty, extremely convenient nostalgic comfort food, but they are not normally considered refreshing. A new flavor may change that, though, because Cup Noodle is ready for the hot weather with a citrus-flavored variety of summer noodle that is actually meant to be served over ice.

According to Sora News 24, Cup Noodle has released a yuzu-flavored cup of somen noodles, which are thin wheat noodles that are usually served cold. The broth is made with chicken and kombu as well as yuzu citrus to give it a bit of refreshing brightness. The noodles are mixed with fish balls, egg, green onion, and steamed fish cakes in the shape of tiny pink flowers, so the instant noodles are as cute as they are convenient.

Ordinary Cup Noodle varieties are made by filling the cup of dry ingredients with boiling water, and that's just how the yuzu somen version is made as well. But the Cup Noodle connoisseur is advised to fill the cup with ice after the noodles and dried ingredients are cooked, which brings the temperature down and turns it into a cup of ice cold soup, just right for summer.

Cup Noodle has experimented with its flavors before, including the time it came out with a luxury line of "rich" soups with shark fin and softshell turtle flavors. Another time, Cup Noodle even released a cup of instant Boston clam chowder with noodles. Those were pretty interesting, but they weren't as refreshing in the hot summer weather as a cup of cold noodles in citrus broth.

The cold Cup Noodles come out on June 19 and will cost about $1.65 apiece. It's only a limited-time offer, though, and once the hot weather goes away, the cold noodles will too.

Click here to see 10 things you should know about instant ramen.