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Father of Instant Ramen Passes Away
Chained Fei writes "Ando Momofuku, Father of the Instant Ramen, passed away on January 5th at the age of 96. He concocted the idea for Instant Ramen after WWII, hoping to reduce the amount of poor nourishment for soldiers in the field. If not for this great man, many a poor college student and programmer would have starved over the years. From the article: 'In 1971, Nissin introduced the Cup Noodle featuring instant ramen in a waterproof plastic foam container. Dubbed the "Ramen King," Ando is credited with expanding Nissin into the No. 1 company in the industry and was well-known for his dedication to his work ... In 1999, Ando opened the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, after installing his second son, Koki, as president of the company.'"
Ando was inspired to develop the instant noodle after coming upon a long line of people on a cold night shortly after World War II waiting to buy freshly made ramen at a black market food stall, according to Nissin.
The experience convinced him that "Peace will come to the world when the people have enough to eat," it said.
I wonder how much ramen he ate himself, afterall it has almost a days worth of sodium in one packet of ramen. That can't be good for your body.
Now I'll have to crawl out of my mother's basement for food!
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
He concocted the idea for Instant Ramen after WWII, hoping to reduce the amount of poor nourishment for soldiers in the field.
I'll tell you that soldiers eat this stuff in the field all of the time. I'm in a unit that fields the http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/neThe Chinese believed eating long noodles would lead to a long life... so does eating lots of instant ramen allow us to live into our 90s? Well, that and a fairly large fortune.
So the moral of the story: Don't eat crushed, uncooked ramen noodles with the packets added in. I know you've done this before too! In the future, don't bother crushing it. (I know it's not Nissin, but the Maruchan stuff was good too..)
Ramen noodles are proof of the far reach of the FSM's noodly appendage.
I remember in junior high school people would bring instant ramen to school, and many would eat it out of the package without even adding hot water (or any water for that matter). It was the "cool" thing to do for some groups of people. In general, instant ramen is okay, but without adding hot water, seems like disguisting shit to me.
Salsa Picante Shrimp
I'm simmering a fresh Cup Noodles right now to mark the passing. So, any other favorites?
I thought instant ramen came from heaven...
who came to earth to share his secret art. I'm sure his soul will rise to the pureland of Ramen Buddha (similar to Amitabha's pureland but with Cup Noodles on the menu).
That guy needed success so he could move into a good neighbourhood.
It must have been confusing for him in a bad neighbourhood...
random stranger: "Hey, momofuka"
Ando: "how did you know my name"
http://rareformnewmedia.com/
Everyone lets raise a cup of ramen to the fallen hero. He will be missed.
Support your local school shooter, give them your firearms.
The Ramen Museum has got to be one of the new 7 wonders of the world.
It's AWESOME!
But then again, AFAIC, at this point ramen is still the perfect geek food.
1.) It's hugely high tech. That little fifty cent packet depends on freeze-drying, foil packaging (thank you NASA), fifth or later gen styrofoam if it's in a cup (only recent gens are low in leached plasticizers), chances are you're cooking it in a microwave oven, and on and on. An awful lot of geek skull sweat went into every little pack of noodly goodness.
2.) It's truly imternational. Go for it, tell me again about the evil American cultural hegemony. Ramen is a Chinese food reworked by a Japanese inventor, and increasingly done in south Asian flavors, all sold through American-style distibution.
3.) It's a triumph of free-market capitalism. A better product that succeeded because it is better and getting constantly revised due to low barriers to entry and fierce competition.
4.) It's hackable. Don't want the palm oil? Drain off the water before you eat it and rinse in fresh hot water. Want to add stuff? Folks have been customizing their ramen for thousands of years. Add peanut butter and veggies and it's damn healthy.
5.) It's still cheap. State of the art product for sale so cheap you can buy a case of it for the cost of one meal at, say, Dennys, let alone real food.
Hell, yeah. Ramen. Gimme some more.
Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
Yes and no. Let's keep in mind that most people unless a few generations back dies too young for us to know how bad their heart disease would have been. They also, on average, exercised far more. Remember, going to take a crap used to mean walking out to the yard and back. Getting your room warm meant building a fire. Traveling quickly meant riding a horse. Stuff we do effortlessly took more exertion for them than many modern folks experience in a routine at the gym.
Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
sob sob! rest in peace ramen king...sluurpp oww that was good...sluurp..(cry in the background)
I learn new things the hard way.
*Pours out a cup of Cheddar Noodles*
We're gonna miss you big guy.
Allow me to say, Ando was truly touched by His Noodly Appendage. We have lost a great man. Ramen.
No words come close.
:(
Just
Oh.... Ramen == Noodles.
I see.
Proof that a great name would always work in captalism.
RIP. Momofuku Ando.
PS: Your noodle are in my stomach.
and I have no instant noodles :(
Found on some "what's new" notes for a product I was rolling out
"Optimised query by using where instead of joins"
If not for this great man, many a poor college student and programmer would have starved^H^H^H^H^H^H^H learned to cook over the years.
;)
There, corrected it!
So long, Ramen guy. The noodles just won't be the same without you.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Although the instant ones are comfortable to cook:
Nothing is better than real fresh handmade ramen in a chinese restaurant around the corner in China. It's just awesome!
So for those who never tried, get to the next Chinatown near you and try them.
mmmmh.
...although I remember paying a quarter for a box of the ol' Kraft mac and cheese.
"The only legitimate use of a computer is to play games." - Eugene Jarvis
A delicious blend of flavors will keep this super salad on the top of your list!
Cook noodles according to package directions, but do not add flavor packets. Drain and cool. Cut noodles up slightly. Combine with other salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix flavor packets, garlic and lemon juice and let stand at least 15 minutes. Add oil and mayonnaise and whisk until smooth. Pour dressing over salad and toss until thoroughly mixed. Garnish with red pepper rings and small grape clusters if desired. Quick and delicious!
Ingredients:
* 2 packages Chicken Flavor Top Ramen
* 8 cups spinach leaves, torn
* 1-1/2 cups turkey or chicken, cooked and diced
* 1 cup red or green grapes, halved
* 1 cup red pepper, slivered
* 1/2 cup cashews, chopped
* 1/2 cup gorgonzola or blue cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
* 2 Flavor packets from Chicken Flavor Top Ramen
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* Juice from 1 small lemon
* 1/3 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
Serves 2
Today's PHD comic pays a tribute to Ando.
hemi
There is a nice tribute at Piled Higher & Deeper:i d=807
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comic
#1) Respect the privacy of others. #2) Think before you type.
OK, I'll rot in (Slashdot) hell for this, but whatever... add seasoning if desired.
Did he die instantly too?
No, really, he did sponsor the publication of a book called (using Romaji) Insutanto Ra-men No Himitsu, or the Secrets of Instant Ramen. I read it back in 1998. It was pretty clear that the company had helped sponsor it, though it was published as part of a very popular series of children's books. The 'secrets' series are educational manga (comic books) for kids, and include such classics as the Secrets of Bread (the food) and the Secrets of Fish (the animals) and the Secrets of Earthquakes. The Secrets of Instant Ramen was actually a pretty good one, though it was a bit too slanted in featuring Ando-san's life story so prominently. It really was a moving struggle for him to invent the first instant ramen, and there were many battles after that...
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
and yet lived to be 96 years old. Maybe there is hope for me yet :P
Monstar L
http://www.uh.edu/infotech/news/story.php?story_i
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." -Jesus Christ The Lord's Prayer
Oh.... dozher == dumbass.
I see.
I believe we should each observe three minutes of silence in memory of him. Some of you may even have a timer for that.
Chris Mattern
Cook noodles but don't add the flavor. Drain and warm noodles with canned chili (Hormel). Mmmm..Mmmm..Mmmm
Zoid.com
Personally, I much prefer the Ramen that comes in the bag instead of the styrofoam cup. For whatever reason, it tastes better; there are more noodles; and it's cheaper. Also, unless you dump out your Cup-O-Noodles--defeating the purpose of the styrofoam--it's much easier to customize the bagged noodles.
First, you would have gotten a call from one of his 'people'. Then after many forms and interviews with more lower mid-level 'managers', and lots and lots of waiting in tiny little rooms you might catch a glimpse of Khan but after they were finished, he wouldn't even ever know your name. And God help you if you get trapped in an elevator with him afterwards...
wait. That's 'trying to get on at Apple.'
Cake or Death? Cake Please!
As I have been told:
His product was a flop and he was nearing bankruptcy until a military college siege in Japan led by a messianic military rightist-poet in the seventies that went on for weeks (months?). Seeing all the cops standing for days behind barricades of snow (that winter was particularly harsh), he sent packets of noodles to them for free and the nation (following the drama closely day after day on grainy B&W TV) witnessed all the cops able to eat something warming and satisfying in the snowy environs. It triggered a sharing urge probably linked to wartime sentiments for "the man in the field" and the shops were emptied of his product. It tipped the scales for his business and he never looked back...
Daro
DoTheStrand at gmail.com
Havent eaten any since college days ( a good 15+ years now ) but for some odd reason was in the mood about 11 pm on the 5th and went out to get some from the local grocery. ( and of course prepared the same way as i did back then.. with burger, their seasoning and just enough pasta sauce to make it wet )
How odd....
---- Booth was a patriot ----
When I was in college, one of the grocery stores sold "Smack" brand instant noodles, which were even cheaper than the regular ramen. This of course lead to all sorts of jokes along the lines of "I'm gonna go get me some smack!", etc.
Saying your "phone ran out of batteries" is like saying your "car ran out of gas tanks".
Funny, no mention of that "peace dividend from a war product" in the actual story, which instead cites compassion for starving Japanese on soup lines after atomic war devastated their country. But if instant ramen was indeed either inspired or funded justified by feeding soldiers better, then it's proof that outlawing war makes a nation's economy more competitive where it counts: feeding people, and making money. And thereby making peace, which even the biggest liar warmongers will claim is the reason to make war. Ramen works better. An army travels on its stomach, but for what? Everyone travels on our stomachs, and a fast hot meal is the way to our hearts.
--
make install -not war
Haha, and nobody asks why this is on Slashdot, I love you guys :D
Do not trust this signature.
Still no comment from ILuvRamen?
I love ramen noodles, easy to prepare and very tasty. Unfortunately, I'm one of those folks who get the blinding headache followed by Exorcist style projectile vomiting when eating MSG. I've never found a ramen noodle package that didn't have a lot of MSG in it. Any others out there have the problem with the MSG? And are there non MSG loaded brands out there, I miss the noodles.
I don't think I've ever seen a native Asian eat ramen with a fork. They always use chopsticks.
It's easier with chopsticks...
--jrd
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
That Ando is one bad Momo--Shut yo mouth!
Now open it and put some ramen in there!
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Ramen? Who will speak his death?
No way. We had Hormel Potted Meat Food Product. Three times the fat of Underwood Deviled Ham at one-third the price.
rj
There's a cool little ramen restaurant in NYC, down in the village (10th street and 1st Ave, if memory serves) named "Momofuku's." It's a pretty good spot. I ate there a few times last year. The wait time is ridiculously long and it's always crowded, but it's worth it. They have some damn good ramen.
I guess he didn't eat much Ramen...either that or cardboard and chicken bullion is much healthier than I've been led to believe.
Naruto sure will be missing you.
...no need for the dried-and-fried crap.
For those who want to experiment with "real" ramen, look for "Yakisoba Noodles" in the deli case if you can't find the fresh ramen kits that some Japanese companies make. As far as broth goes, if you want it easy, get a can of Swanson's Chicken Broth and use that. If you want to get a more authentic effect, make some bone-in pork roast or roast a chicken, then make broth with the bones. You cook the noodles at the last minute, in plain boiling water for about 30 seconds before draining and adding to the bowl. Pour the broth over that. Add cooked veggies and your choice of meat. Oishii oishii.
If you are lucky enough to live in LA, here's a few good places to get a prepared bowl of Ramen:
Koraku, Little Tokyo and Sherman Oaks;
Ramen Nippon, Reseda;
Kyushu Ramen, Van Nuys;
Tampopo at Mitsuwa Market, Mar Vista
Koraku in Sherman Oaks just opened up. The Little Tokyo branch is an institution that's been up and running since the '50s. The new place looks like a little out-of-the-way Showa-era restaurant in Japan, complete with replicas of Occupation-era advertising signs. Koraku in Little Tokyo is open until 3am, and was a place to go to after seeing bands at Al's Bar back in the day or The Smell or The Cocaine Club now.
Ramen Nippon in Reseda is a favorite of Japanese students at Cal State Northridge. Good healthy Japanese food.
Kyushu Ramen is open late and not only has good noodles but good Japanese "Family Restaurant" kind of food. They also have a separate menu in Japanese which has some good authentic stuff you don't find at most LA Japanese restaurants. They're happy to explain if you don't read Japanese.
Tampopo is a branch of a South Bay restaurant. The movie "Tampopo" is about the quest for the perfect bowl of Ramen, and similarly Tampopo the restaurant is about serious Ramen. The little satellite stand in the West LA Mitsuwa is almost as good as the South Bay version.
One important note about the Ramen you get at these restaurants: they are served in HUGE bowls. Most Gaijin can share a bowl happily. However, somehow or another Japanese folks manage to polish off the entire thing by themselves. Including petite little female Japanese college students from CSUN.
Make the fresh kind for yourself and you will never go back to Cup Noodles.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
R.I.P Ando-- I think all of us have some great Ramen stories, and creative recipes! The only thing I've always wanted them to do was to add more desperately needed nutrients to the flavor packet. I'd pay another ten cents to know that my vitamin and mineral requirements were being met. Oh, also, now that I've been married for several years, and we both have decent jobs, I've been out of the Ramen scene for a few years. What are the best brands now? New flavors? Damn, I'm out of touch!
Like Harland Sanders' story, Ando's is inspiring for those of us who are "past their prime" in this youth-oriented culture. I'm looking around for some kind of post-computer geek career that doesn't involve management (especially not managing software development), but to pay the bills I have to keep doing what I've grown to hate. It doesn't help to be thought of as too old (read: too expensive) to have "kept up" with the "l33t" technology. Ando and others prove that age doesn't have to affect peoples' careers or lifestyles except for those that are very physical in nature. At 48 myself I've picked up my brushes and started painting again after 20 years (see my website), and thinking of at least supplementing my income by selling prints. If the "long tail" theory of marketing is correct, somebody out there will buy a couple. I have a 40-something friend who bought a farm, and though she's not making anything from it now, she has the potential to do so and get out of the programming field altogether.
So, buck up fellow creaking-jointed, progressive-bifocal-wearing, relaxed-fit-docker's-wearing folks, it's never too late to start again!
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
Instant Ramen gives My body a new found strength. Payday's coming soon.
Many comments for this article relate to how 'international' ramen/instant noodles really are, or, how sodium is either good or bad for you. The true point should not be arguing and bickering, but rather Respect and Gratitude towards the Ramen King for providing the world with a very very affordable, and quite delicious treat. When I was younger I remember days when I would eat up to three packs a day for weeks at a time, of course now that is quite rare. However, one pack doesn't fill me up by it self, so I always put two in one bowl, but nonetheless, dieting has provented me from enjoying these tasty delights as often as I used too.
Many a programming session have been joined with an ice cold mountain dew and a hot steaming bowl of Instant Ramen Noodles (flavor depends on mood). I for one am grateful to the Ramen King, for without his invention, I would be stuck eating something made out of processed chicken and pork livers. And nobody wants that.
Thank You Ramen King, for now I shall honor your existance by eating a bowl in your memory, as should we all.
Obviously, he did not eat too much of his own inventions. :-)
But seriously, instant noodles nowadays are pretty bad (nutritionally - lots of "50% saturated fat, etc." types out there). Even after draining it through hot water and using your own soup and flavoring, you're still dealing with fried noodles for the most part.
My favorite is a vegetarian ramen from Taiwan. I haven't had a better one. Whatever chemicals they put in there to make the noodles taste good and have a good texture, they've got it all correct. Is there a food critic-type site that catalogs all brands and flavors of Ramen?
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
When I was in high school, a Japanese exchange student told me that many Japanese teens heat up Nissin Cup Noodles, let it sit in cold water for a couple minutes, then drill a hole at the bottom of the cup and use it as a poor man's FleshLight (not worksafe). Quoth him, "I feels like real thing, man."
There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
If he is buried with half the salt that a cup of instant ramen has, the body will be well preserved for centuries.
On a somber note, he was laid to rest in a Styrofoam®, container vacuum sealed with a foil cover.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. Emo Philips
(pssst...look at my name and sig which have been the same for months) :'(
NNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!
I think I may never get over this
Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
Thousands upon thousands of college students cry out as the man who allowed them to eat while pursuing their dreams passed on.
Correction on #2. Mr. Ando was Chinese, born in Taiwan, and moved to Japan.
Classes start up at my university tomorrow. In memory of this fine man I shall observe a moment of silence every day at lunch this week while I enjoy my noodly meal.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Why is this under "science" ?
> For those who want to experiment with "real" ramen, look for "Yakisoba Noodles"
> in the deli case if you can't find the fresh ramen kits that some Japanese companies make.
Soba noodles are an indigenous Japanese dish made from buckwheat. Ramen noodles are a dish they copied from the Chinese, and are made from regular wheat. They are quite different kinds of noodles, and the names are not equivalent or interchangeable. Actually, I like soba better than ramen. It's a bit harder to cook properly, though, and not quite as cheap.
"Yaki", is Japanese for grilled... hence its inclusion in the names of takoyaki (grilled, baked, or fried octopus balls), yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick), and teppanyaki (meat and vegetables grilled at your dining table).
cya,
john
Imagine all the people...
Actually filmed on the Space Station. Between this ad and the steaming cup in Times Square, I'm guessing that their ad budget is pretty hefty...
= cup%20noodle%20noodles%20nissin%20CM%20commercial% 20japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntg2D4vUil8&search
Worst...sig...ever!
I'm really surprised that the official name is now "Cup Noodles". I always used to call it "Cup O' Noodles" (I see from the company web site http://www.nissinfoods.com/his.htm) that they changed the name in 1993).
I really prefer to call it "Cup O' Noodles"; has a nice ring to it. Anybody else agree?
For visual effect: http://www.explosm.net/movies/124/
1 is the square root of all evil.
Cup 'o Noodles are over a dollar if I remember correctly. Any starving student worth his graphing calculator would buy 5-7 times the amount of noodles in plastic packaging. And remember -- every dollar saved on ramen is a dollar toward the keg fund.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
College students wouldn't starve - they would just eat more Kraft Dinner (Macaroni and Cheese) like I did in collge. Of course, usually I didn't spring for the name brand and went with the 19 cents a box generic.
Can definitely vouch for Ramon noodles making free software possible.
LMAO So true :D
:p Slice up some green onions, some fried egg and whatever left-over meat is in the fridge and it's all good.
BTW I'm an American, who lives in Saudi Arabia. The Ramen I eat is an Indonesian bran called "Indomie" and it's so popular here that that's it has replaced "Ramen" as the official name: "Hey anybody in the mood for some Indomie". At home I call it "Oodles o' Noodles" thanks to my American upbringing xD
There used to be this Korean brand that came in red packaging and had black lettering. It would come every now and then; the supplies were erratic for some reason. I loved those the best; they gave bigger helpings, the noodles were bigger and flat and the sauce was red and spicy.
I like to eat it any way possible. And I'm almost always introduced to a new way of eating it whenever I have it at a friend's house. Fried is nice, steam cooked and dry, mixed with assorted veggies and meats. I've returned to eating it as a soup because I haven't had it that way in so long
My favorite flavor is "fried noodle".
garbage in, garbage out...
As typical asian father would do, installing one's son as a president of one's company has been like tradition or typical of asian society but nowadays becoming an evil practice for such large corporation to do. typical asian father...
I always take note when somebody that invented something cool dies. Instant ramen is one of the best foody inventions, and it's sad that the king of the fast and cheap, but still edible and tasty noodle is gone. 96 is a pretty good run, though. Everybody eat instant ramen! You'll live longer.
Now, first of all, I mostly don't buy ramen at all these days. My noodle fix of choice is some Wei Wei rice noodles with amchur (mango powder), a bit of tienjin dried cabbage, pickled ginger, an egg and or shredded meat, fresh scallions (I grow my own), maybe greens or sprouts, maybe peanut butter, a bit of soy sauce, smidgens of other seasonings, and some fresh lime juice. Comes out to about a buck a meal.
My fifty cent estimate was in recognition of the great ramen king, Sapporo Ichiban (original flavor or miso flavor), which I have found to go for about fifty cents a pack in NYC, Portland, Toronto, Milwaukee, and half a dozen other cities.
As for other varieties, yeah, sure Top Ramen is far less, but why bother? The south Asian versions are less but they're too friggin small for me. so yeah, you can pay less, but then you can also buy a CPU at Walmart but I suspect that most of you wouldn't.
So let me just say that not only was my price estimate a good average (because many of the cup noodles are more) it was, if referring solely to packets, an implicit statement of my confidence in the good taste of /.ers.
Data is the lever, rigor the fulcrum, brains the force that drives it all.
I have a stack of instant "Yakisoba" noodle trays sitting in my room, imported from Japan, the primary ingredient of which is listed as buckwheat, and taste very much like actual soba noodles to me.
I will, of course, happily admit that maybe I missed some detail of Japanese cuisine that allows soba to refer, in some instances, to wheat noodles instead of buckwheat, just like yaki refers to fried or baked sometimes instead of grilled. Despite my efforts, it's not like it's an easy language to grasp all the nuances of, after all.
I still maintain, however, that actual buckwheat soba noodles p0wn ramen noodles. Every time I have occasion to pop down to San Jose, Mitsuwa is near the top of my list of places to stop by, mostly for their bomb-ass soba noodle soups!
(Not that I don't love ramen, udon, and even semolina noodles, but soba is the bomb!)
cya,
john
Imagine all the people...
During a period of time in which I was pretty damn poor I ate pretty much nothing but ramen for a good couple months and loss almost 30 pounds...yay malnourishment :)
Unfortunately, not only has the incredible influx of ramen noodles to Mexico severely affected local food consumption, it has contributed greatly to general waste.
Think of the millions of spent ramen packages.
Probably something like, "Better raman than varelse!" (Ha, Slashdot! Figure out that reference!)
Could I just ask what are Ramen noodles exactly? Are they like Pot Noodle?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it