Yeah, I’ve always assumed it was nonsense, but it’s kind of a fun myth (and mostly harmless), so when I found this image on my HDD, thought I’d post it…

These kinds of industrial foods are extremely hard to replicate - there aren’t many “off the shelf” ingredients you can buy to mix to get this exact formula. That said, if you look at the soup ingredients (listed in descending order according to % by weight):

Soup Base: Salt, Chili, Paprika and Other Spices, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Contains Less than 1% of: Sugar, Dehydrated Vegetables (Garlic, Onion, Chive), Dehydrated Soy Sauce (Wheat, Soybeans, Salt), Beef Fat, Silicon Dioxide (Anti-Caking Agent), Caramel Color, Beef Extract, Citric Acid, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate Lactose, Yeast Extract.

So mostly salt, chili powder (like, just ground red chilis, not American “chili powder” though you can always try that), paprika and MSG mixed with (very little) beef bouillon. Maybe a quarter teaspoon each of the dried vegetables listed. Specifically, the beef bouillon, dehydrated soy, Disodium Inosinate (often called D&I in the industry) and yeast extract all sound like commercial cheap beef broth powder ingredients to me, and add a TON of umami to an otherwise merely salty broth.

Those flavor packets are tiny, maybe 1/2 tbsp (1.5 tsp)? My first guess would be in the ballpark of 1/2 tsp of fine non-iodized salt, 1/4 tsp red chili powder, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/8 tsp MSG, 1/4 tsp beef bouillon powder (if you can find an asian brand in the international aisle, go for that). Probably won’t quite cut it, but that’s about as close as you’re going to get without going on a deep dive on commercial ingredients. There are some thickeners and emulsifiers that would help things look the part, but this post is already long.

Probably not close, but I was bored while sipping coffee this morning and overthought it.

They’ll make anything from anything. That’s why I love old community cookbooks. Wild stuff.