A-Sha Is Charging $550 For This Instant Ramen. Here's Why

Have you ever tucked into a cup of instant ramen? Whether you're a college student burning the midnight oil, someone who's trying to save money on grocery bills, or simply a bonafide snacker, instant ramen is there for you. Invented in 1958 and sold by Japan's Nissin Foods, Tokyo Ramen Tours shares the first instant ramen to hit shelves was a package of dried noodles with chicken-flavored seasoning – and the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, the instant ramen market is a booming one whose worth is predicted to reach nearly $66 billion by the end of 2027 (via GlobalNewswire). While the snack remains, for the most part, a low-priced one that appeals to budget-conscious eaters, more and more instant ramen makers have released luxury versions of their products, such as Ichiran's $8 Ramen Curly Noodles and Nissin's $11 Ippudo Instant Ramen. And now, the Taiwanese instant noodle maker A-Sha is taking luxury ramen to a whole new price point: $550, to be exact, for four servings of its Knife Cut Noodles.

How can an instant ramen maker possibly charge $138 per serving of noodles? A-Sha's "Crazy Rich Ramen" is a limited time only, mail-order Valentine's Day offering in the form of a gift box containing four servings of its instant Knife Cut Noodles, four 30-milligram tins of Astrea Premier sturgeon caviar, one 25-milligram tin of edible gold flakes, and one scallion. Meant as an indulgent, romantic Valentine's Day feast, A-Sha's instructions for the meal are to boil a portion of noodles, toss them with one packet of sesame, soy, and scallion sauce, top the serving with one entire tin of caviar, and sprinkle the noodles with sliced scallions and — NBD — a generous showering of gold leaf.

"We love ramen and believe it got a bad rap as cheap, low-end, tasteless, and not to be considered premium food," the noodle maker states in the gift box's description. "A-Sha Foods USA is changing that narrative with our crafted ramen, and now we're leveling up with crazy ingredients that would traditionally not be seen as 'good enough' for ramen."

Now that's a pricey snack. This might be one of the only Valentine's Days you'll save money settling for a good quality bottle of champagne and a box of luxury chocolates, instead.