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niyad

(112,435 posts)
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 12:08 PM Mar 2015

has everyone seen the google doodle for today-momofuku ando's 105th (inventor of instant ramen)



ALL HAIL RAMEN!!


How Momofuku Ando invented instant ramen — and transformed Japanese cuisine

https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UR8ovAeuwk_u7t57Oo-b2Dw8NMY=/0x212:1581x1266/639x426/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45818806/53291332.0.0.jpg

Momofuku Ando, who invented ramen instant noodles, would have celebrated his 105th birthday today. In addition to inspiring hip restaurants (and Google Doodles), he earned the adoration of a nation. In a 2000 poll, Japanese respondents said instant ramen was the country's top invention of the 20th century.

Ando died at 96 in January 2007, but his legacy endures — not least due to the widespread popularity of his most famous invention.

. . . . .

But it wasn't until he was in his 40s that ramen inspiration struck. Ando provided a mythical origin story for his middle-aged dabbling in food, as Karen Leibowitz explains at Gizmodo. In his biography, Ando claimed he was struck by inspiration when he saw people huddled around a ramen stall in postwar Osaka. With food shortages rampant, he believed noodles could cure world hunger.

Of course, there are cracks in the corporate origin story — Ando didn't found Nissin until 1958, well into the postwar period. The product also got its start as a relatively luxurious convenience food, since the first "Chikin Ramen" sold in Japan cost more than fresh noodles did. (Ando's background as businessman wasn't as blameless as the corporate myth implies, either — in 1948, he went to jail for tax evasion, though he claimed it was for providing scholarships for students.)

Regardless of how altruistic instant noodles were, the story remains inspiring. They were the product of a 48-year-old tinkerer who invented flash-frying noodles so they could be quickly cooked in boiling water. Ando followed that with the 1971 invention of Cup Noodles, which were inspired by customers who reused coffee cups as ramen bowls. Instant noodles took off, and competitors like Maruchan built off the innovation.

. . . .

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/5/8150929/momofuku-ando-ramen-instant-noodles

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has everyone seen the google doodle for today-momofuku ando's 105th (inventor of instant ramen) (Original Post) niyad Mar 2015 OP
. . . niyad Mar 2015 #1
There are several. I've seen three so far! LOL KittyWampus Mar 2015 #2
I realized that just a few minutes ago. niyad Mar 2015 #3
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