06 January 2007

Momofuku Ando – an appreciation

It is with great sadness that the BBC announced the death aged 96 of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles

Mr Ando, who moved to Japan in 1933, founded Nissin Food Products Co after World War II. He developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958 which he said had been inspired by seeing people lining up to buy bowls of noodle soup at a black market stall during food shortages after.

It was the provision a waterproof polystyrene container for the noodles in 1971 that made the Cup Noodle a major success. Since then Nissin has led the global instant noodle industry since selling billions of servings every year,

Japanese newspapers and business people have been paying tribute to Mr Ando: "He was a self-made man who developed an epoch-making instant noodle product and spread it to all corners of the world," according to Akio Nomura, chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Kyodo news agency.

Mr Ando remained active until just days before his death, giving a New Year's speech to Nissin employees and having a lunch of Chicken Ramen with company executives.

I will freely admit that I used to eat pot noodles by the ton and enjoy them too (well sort of...honest!) so I could hardly fail to acknowledge the passing of their inventor. Momofuku Ando, I salute you!


6 comments:

Steve Bates said...

Not only that, when you're done eating the contents, you can read the package label aloud to conclude your prayers to the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

jams o donnell said...

In deed Bryan, cheap filling and full of what's not good for you, a veritable feast. But never that tasty - I used to make noodles palatable by adding additional seasinings like sweet chili sauce or Ketjap Manis etc...

I say Ramen to that Steve!

elasticwaistbandlady said...

I'm loving his name. I may incorporate it into my limited "covert cussing" vernacular. I can invoke the name of the Noodle King and tell someone off at the same time. Yeah, that's right. So, flake off you MOMOFUKU!

We eat the instant noodles because the kids like a hot lunch sometimes and this is a manageable product for them to cook themselves. Cheap eats too.

jams o donnell said...

LOL.. It struck me that the name would be good for just that purpose!

Roland Dodds said...

I would not be alive if not for this man. For a short time when I had no home, no money, and no food, he kept me alive. God bless the man.

jams o donnell said...

There you go Roland. For you for a while they were a lifeline...