Japan’s Nisshin Seifun Welna launched its Quick Boil Spaghetti in Vietnam some time ago, but it recently caught our attention for its clever design. The pasta features spiral grooves that shorten cooking time, improve flavour absorption, and still deliver the prized al dente texture. Once boiled, the grooves close to form a smooth, round cross‑section, giving the noodles the look and feel of traditional premium pasta.
In Japan, this innovation has already proven a success. The company’s “Ma‑Ma Hayayude Spaghetti FineFast” series sold about 100 million units in fiscal 2024, thanks to its pinwheel‑shaped grooves that conduct heat quickly to the center. Cooking times are cut in half compared to standard pasta, with strands ready in just two to four minutes depending on thickness, while maintaining a pleasantly firm bite.
The design was refined over more than a decade, beginning with a three‑groove pinwheel in 2011 and evolving to four grooves in 2022, even making the noodles microwave‑compatible. In February 2025, Nisshin Seifun Welna introduced a new version with an even chewier texture, reflecting consumer demand for convenience and variety.
Similar to the pasta innovation from Japan’s Nisshin Seifun Welna, Korea’s Haerim has applied a comparable idea to chicken breast. The company recently introduced its “칼집 닭가슴살” (slit chicken breast) series, which uses deep cuts in the meat to allow sauces to penetrate evenly, enhancing both flavour and texture. Unlike conventional products where seasoning only coats the surface, Haerim’s method ensures the taste reaches the core, delivering a richer bite all the way through.
