Back in 2009, the fondness of the main character for Napolitan in the anime Cross Game introduced me to pasta with a Japanese influence. The dish typically consisted of ‘spaghetti, tomato ketchup or a tomato-based sauce, onion, button mushrooms, green peppers, sausage, bacon and Tabasco sauce’. This Nisshin Ma Ma Pasta Sauce Tomato Napolitan is an instant version.
The instant Napolitan is packaged in a foil pouch, much the same way as some curries. It can be heated up by placing the pouch directly in boiling water over the stove for 5-6 minutes (as here) or poured out and heated for 2 minutes in a 500 W microwave. Each bag contained enough sauce for 2 servings or 200 g of pasta.
The sauce is a bright red colour with the tangy aroma of tomato. It lists its ingredients as tomato, onion, carrot, pimento, shallot, garlic, parsley, tomato paste, mushroom, butter powder and spice.
Served hot, the Napolitan has the same tangy flavour of tomato with the characteristic sweetness of Japanese sauces in equal measure, making for something very easy to eat. The flavour of onion came through prominently behind the tomato, while the slices of mushroom and chunks of tomato added bite and pops of flavour despite being much smaller than suggested in the photo. I enjoyed this Napolitan just a touch less than I I do my favourite Western pasta sauce, Dolmio Red Wine and Italian Herbs.
This Nisshin Ma Ma Pasta Sauce Tomato Napolitan contained 260 g. It was produced in Thailand and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2017.