Maruka Foods has been making snacks in Gunma Prefecture since 1961, but their place in Japanese food history was secured in 1973 when they launched Peyoung Sauce Yakisoba — a cup of instant fried noodles with a thick, sweet Worcestershire-based sauce that has since become one of the most recognisable instant noodle products in Japan. The name is a portmanteau of peyoung and young, coined to evoke youth and energy, which is a very 1970s reason to name a noodle cup and has aged surprisingly well. Peyoung occupies a specific and beloved niche in the instant noodle world. Where most instant products are soup-based, Peyoung is a dry yakisoba — the water is drained after cooking, the sauce is mixed through, and the result is something closer to a proper fried noodle dish than the average cup ramen. The standard Sauce Yakisoba is a konbini staple. The spicy variant, Goku Gekikara, is a different proposition entirely — one of the genuinely hot instant noodles in Japan, with a heat level that requires a small disclaimer and delivers on it completely.
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