New Vegan Instant Ramen to Put Cup Noodles To Shame

Canadian brand Rebel Ramen will debut two flavors (Miso and Spicy Savory) of vegan instant ramen after successfully crowdfunding its Kickstarter goal within seven hours. Ramen-enthusiast Chris Au (who owns online stores Biolent and Vital House) founded the brand as a homage to his favorite quick meal, but without refined carbohydrates, empty calories, and animal products. “It’s really important to me that all of my businesses are plant-based,” Au told VegNews. “I’m an engineer by trade so efficiency is important to me. Looking at the animal agricultural industry, there’s just no way we can maintain this path without running out of water, rainforests, or dying due to global warming.” Instead of animal-derived seasonings used by brands such as Cup Noodles, Rebel Ramen is formulated with mushroom ingredients that impart a rich umami flavor and swaps nutritionally empty instant noodles for protein-rich noodles made from black beans. “Our noodles have re-imagined what Cup Noodles can be,” Au said. “Instead of being high in simple carbs and fat, we focus on protein and fiber. Instead of 50 unrecognizable ingredients, we use just a few that our customers can intuitively feel good about. We wanted to keep the taste and convenience of the classic Cup Noodles but bring the nutrition up to our standards.” Rebel Ramen’s Kickstarter campaign initially aimed to raise CAD $3,798 (USD $2,857) and is currently more than 300-percent funded. If the company achieves a stretch goal of CAD $50,000 (USD $37,609), it will add a vegan chicken flavor to its flagship line. The campaign will close on March 22 and the company will begin large-scale production of its ramen, which will be available online (with shipping to the United States) with the goal of debuting in retail stores in the future.