Noodle Journey Episode 118: Maruchan Akai Kitsune Udon Noodle Soup

I’m reviewing Maruchan’s Akai Kitsune Udon Noodle Soup, a companion to the Midori no Tanuki soba I just covered. “Akai Kitsune” translates to “red fox,” which in this context refers to a bowl of udon topped with fried tofu (called “abura-age”), not anything to do with fox meat. I like the Tanuki soba a lot, so I’m going in hoping this udon version lands just as well.

I paid $4.49 at H Mart for the 3.99-ounce bowl, and it also shows up online at a small markup. There’s also a smaller bowl version at 3.39 ounces if you want to consume less sodium. And that’s because sodium for this 3.99-ounce version is a staggering 3,000 mg for the entire container, which is labeled as three servings, but this is realistically still a single meal for most people. Inside are thick wheat udon noodles, a large slab of fried tofu, and a broth powder that contains soy sauce, MSG, fish extract, and seaweed, plus dried green onion and red pepper. This one actually has English instructions: add the soup base first, then steep with boiling water for five minutes. It is not microwave-safe.

Noodles:
Thick, bouncy, and easily the best noodles I’ve had from Maruchan outside their Gold/Seimen line. They come back great with just a steep.
• 10/10

Spiciness:
There are tiny red pepper flakes, but the heat is essentially nil. I think they’re completely unnoticeable.
• 0.5/10

Overall:
Like its Tanuki cousin, the broth is a classic soy-and-dashi combination like you’d get with udon at a Japanese restaurant. It’s salty, smoky bonito flavor with a touch of seaweed and a lot of green onion presence. It smells great and tastes warm and comforting, and there are noticeably more dried ingredients floating around than in the soba cup. The big draw is the fried tofu slab, and it is excellent; it brings a mellow fried-oil note on its own, then soaks up the broth so every bite adds a burst of that oily umami flavor along with the extra texture. If you do not like fried tofu, this will not change your mind; if you do, you’ll find it ties the whole bowl together. The only real drawback to this bowl is the insance sodium level. To play it safe, you might want to not finish the broth if you buy this, and I myself might hunt down the smaller cup version for sodium & portion control. But putting the sodium level aside (which I often have to when doing instant noodle reviews since it comes with the territory), flavor-wise this is a winner and one of the best Maruchan products I’ve ever had.
• 10/10