Untitled Document
 What
is the most popular food in the world? Rice is at the top of the list,
followed by bread. Unbelievably, ramen comes
in third. How often do you eat ramen? According to statistics, Korea ranks fifth
in ramen consumption followed by China,
Indonesia, Japan, and America. There’s no doubt that people all around
the world enjoy ramen, which was developed only a few decades
ago. But do you know who created this beloved food?
 Ramen
was invented by a Japanese man named Momofuku Ando. He was born in
Taiwan in 1910. After moving to Japan in 1933, he ran a merchandising company. He
lost all his money after his company went into bankruptcy. However
he didn’t give up his life and established
his own small company. Later, it became Nissin Food Products Co. Ltd.,
which produces ramen.
Japan went through a difficult time after World War Two, and the country
suffered from food shortages. Ando wanted
to provide cheap food to the Japanese
public. He got a brilliant idea from ramen. Traditionally, the Japanese
enjoyed ramen, but it was not instant ramen. Ando wanted
to change traditional ramen into instant ramen. He wanted to provide
food that was cheap and easy to make. However, he failed repeatedly. It was so difficult
to store noodles for a long time because
noodles go bad when they are wet.
 One
day, Ando came up with the idea of making instant ramen noodles while
he was watching his wife cook. His wife was making fried food. He discovered how he could make
instant noodles that could be preserved for a long time. Like fried
food, he fried raw noodles at a high temperature for a short time.
This caused the moisture in the noodles to
evaporate instantly, leaving holes
in the noodles. Fried noodles last a long time. And the
noodles regain their original shape when they
are boiled.
Finally, he developed the first instant noodles in 1958. It was called
chicken ramen. People could enjoy the ramen after boiling it for two
minutes. The instant ramen sold like hot cakes in Japan. Then in 1971,
he released the world’s first
“cup noodles”.
Since then, his company has dominated the global instant
noodle industry. Ando retired from his company
in 2005 and sadly died of a heart attack in 2007. However,
he has left his gift of ramen to people all over the world. Thanks,
Mr. Ando for letting us enjoy delicious ramen! |
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