10 interesting things you should know about instant noodles

Perhaps we all know, instant noodles are an extremely familiar dish in the student dormitory, also a "savior" for the end of the month's meals. But did you know that Japanese people are the ones who bring instant noodles to the whole world, through instant Ramen?

A lot of people, consider Ramen as part of Japanese culture. That, having come to the land of cherry blossoms and not enjoying Ramen, the trip is still not complete.

Today, we can meet Ramen shops in almost every major city in the world. Ramen fiber also appears in many different dishes, such as Ramen sandwiches, Ramen sandwiches, and even, it is wrapped in both Burritto (a famous dish of Mexico). And of course, to serve the students who are lazy to cook, or busy office guys, can't be without instant ramen.

Below, are 10 interesting information about this famous dish.

1. The first instant Ramen package is considered a "luxury" in the supermarket

Does anyone know that this "popular" dish was once considered "luxury".

Today, many people around the world consider Ramen instant noodle as a "delicious, good, cheap" dish. But once upon a time, instant noodles were regarded as "delicacies" in Japan. Momofuku Ando, ​​founder of Nissin instant noodle brand globally famous, created instant Ramen chicken package as a convenient dish, can eat anytime, anywhere in 1958 - the time when food still exists relatively inadequate. However, when going to the supermarket shelf, "Instant Ramen Ramen" turns into a luxury item, because their price is 6 times higher than a pack of fresh Udon.

2. This is the best-selling dish at Rikers Island prison

All the time, the prison on Rikers Island, New York always had to make sure never to let cup noodles fall into a "burning" situation . This dish is always consumed by prisoners at a great speed, in part by meeting all three "delicious, good and cheap" needs. And even if the prisoners are bored with noodles, they still buy cup noodles, just to get the seasoning packets, to mix them with the bland dishes served here.

3. Nissin noodle has only two kinds of "Oriental" noodles and spicy flavor to serve vegetarians

Fast cooking, fast food, cheap price, and it doesn't even take the time to wash dishes - extremely convenient.

Because other things like "Chicken", "Cow", or "Shrimp" contain ingredients of animal origin. More specifically, the seasoning package of chicken noodles and beef noodles contains animal fat, and shrimp noodles contain shrimp powder in the ingredients.

4. Some people, instead of "boiling noodles," they prefer to enjoy "live shrimp noodles"

Everyone of us must have enjoyed the "raw shrimp noodles" already.

David Chang - the founder of Momofuku restaurant empire - is such a person. According to what he said in "Mind of a Chef" , about biting a squeeze of raw noodles sprinkled with spices:

"At that time, I was only about 8 years old. After coming home from school, instead of eating candies like all other children, I chose the shrimp noodles to live. Of course, I did not care about eating like that. "I just love it, because it tastes so good."

5. The word "Ramen" comes from Chinese

Perhaps, Japanese people need to thank China for the name of this famous noodle. According to Gil Asakawa's "Being Japanese American" , "ramen" is the Japanese transliteration of the word "Lo mein" (lao - lao vi) in Chinese. The Chinese "Lo mein" is made by boiling noodles in a special broth made with soy sauce, eating it with boiled vegetables and barbecue. Of course, this is not the only hypothesis about Ramen's name.

According to many other researchers, the Chinese word for Ramen is "lamian" (拉 麺 - vermicelli) - a common name for fresh noodles drawn by traditional manual methods. But anyway, it is undeniable that Japanese Ramen is partly inspired by Chinese noodles.

6. And China is also the world's largest consumer of instant noodles

Tong-Yi noodle is Chinese.

According to the World Instant Noodle Association (which sounds like a joke, but this association exists), China is the largest consumer of instant noodles in the world. In 2013, the country consumed more than 46 billion packages of noodles. The best-selling Chinese noodles are Tong-Yi instant noodles. This brand appears everywhere, from street stalls, to Walmart supermarkets.

7. Japanese people consider instant Ramen to be their greatest invention

Japanese people regard Ramen as their greatest invention.

According to a survey conducted in 2000 by the Fuji Research Institute, Japanese people are most proud of the introduction of instant noodles to the world. For them, instant noodles are truly the symbol of the "Made in Japan " brand, when this dish is popular all over the world.

8. Basically, if you eat instant noodles every day, you will only spend $ 140 on food

Today, I will cook a nice meal . oh well, it is too lazy to cook noodles.

Perhaps, the most "bright" quality of instant noodles is at their extremely " affordable " price. On average, a package of instant noodles costs only about 13 cents (about 3,000 VND). In fact, if you eat noodles all year long, your food costs only about $ 142. While averaging in the US, each person spends about $ 7,852 a year on food.

9. In Yokohama, Japan has an entire museum displaying instant noodles

Past Ramen Cups.

True to its name - Cup Noodle Museum - the entire space showcases the development of instant noodles over time. There is even a "instant noodle factory" to assist visitors to create their own cup of noodles. According to the home page of the museum, the factory can create more than 5,460 different flavors of noodles, enough to meet the needs of customers.

10. Ramen is the first noodles to be eaten in space

The noodles package went to the distant universe.

Momofuku Ando's ambition doesn't stop at Earth, but he wants to serve instant noodles to outer space diners. In 2005, two years before Ando died, he succeeded in creating "Space Ram" - a package of instant noodles placed in a vacuum bag to be used in a space environment. This package of noodles accompanies Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on a trip to space on Discovery ship.