Peyoung Yakisoba Half & Half — Japanese Instant Noodles, Mild + Extra Hot, 235g

Yakisoba (yah-kee-soh-bah) is Japan's fried noodle dish: you pour the water off before the sauce goes on, so it arrives glossy and sauced, never sitting in soup. This tray gives you two sauces at once. The mild half is Peyoung's everyday brown sauce. Worcestershire sauce is its first ingredient, so it lands near a brown sauce you already know, sweeter, with apple and tomato behind it and sesame, green seaweed and pickled ginger through the dried garnish. The other half is the same noodles under the brand's chilli sauce. Maruka's own line for it is that this is Peyoung's sauce yakisoba and its extra-hot yakisoba in one tray. If you have wanted to try a Japanese spicy noodle without betting a whole meal on it, this is the one that lets you.

On the pack: ペヤング 超大盛やきそばハーフ&ハーフ激辛.

What you're getting

• Two sauces in one tray: the sweet-savoury brown sauce Peyoung has built its name on, and the chilli sauce that has sat beside it since 2013.
• Where the heat actually sits: this is the entry rung of Peyoung's spicy range, not the extreme one. Maruka sells a standalone extra-hot tray and a "hell-spicy" line above it, and both are hotter than this. Japanese buyers split hard on it, and the split is worth repeating rather than resolving: some cannot finish the hot half, and others say it is not hot at all.
• There is no divider in the tray. It is one continuous block of noodles, and you aim each sauce at half of it. The two sauces meet in the middle, and you mix them to find your own level of heat. It works in both directions, though: mixing lifts the mild half as much as it calms the hot one.
• It is a big tray. 235 g is a full dinner rather than a snack, and plenty of Japanese buyers split it between two people.
• Allergens: contains wheat, soy and sesame. The Japanese pack also declares beef, chicken, pork and apple, which Australia does not require on an allergen line but which matter if you avoid them. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.

A few things worth knowing before you cook it. The water is drained, not eaten, three minutes, then peel the corner spout and tip it out; the sauce goes on afterwards, and pouring it in early is the one mistake people make. The whole tray is one serving, not two, even though it is dressed two ways. Sesame is on the allergen list even though you will not see any: it rides in the spice and oil components. The pack is the Japanese-market one, so the method is set out in full above, in English. Never microwave the tray, and take care tipping the water out. It is boiling, and a full noodle block can plug the spout if you rush it.