Ramen Noodles

Well here goes…
Have you ever eaten Ramen Noodles? You are probably thinking “DUH!!! Hasn’t everyone on the face of the earth?” Well, that would be a slight exaggeration, but perhaps it is close to the truth. In 2004, annual servings sold worldwide topped 70 billion. So lots of people have eaten them, but have you ever wondered how and why Ramen Noodles were invented?
Momofuku Ando, a Taiwanese inventor and entrepreneur, invented Ramen Noodles in 1958. At the end of World War II, Japan was going through a food shortage and Ando wanted to help the poor people that had to stand in long lines in order to get food from charities. He had the idea of inventing a kind of noodles that would be very inexpensive and easy to cook. He experimented with various kinds of noodles until he finally came up with a method of making and moistening noodles, and then drying and flash-frying them. They were ready to be eaten within minutes of being covered with boiling water. They were also the world’s first instant noodles. At first considered a luxury, they were expensive. But after cup noodles were invented, the company saw immediate success. The world wide demand for them increased, and Ramen were eventually sold as one of the cheapest noodles in Japan.
After hearing this story, I have a deeper appreciation for Ramen Noodles, and respect for a man that wanted to help out his fellow countrymen in their time of need.