WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Students and workers around the world should observe a moment of silence at mealtime today. Momofuku Ando has died.
Who he? Ando is Mr. Pot Noodle. He invented them with the kind of ingenuity an impoverished student would appreciate, working on his project in a shed behind his house.
His company, Nissin Food, also makes Top Ramen, those rectangular blocks of dried noodles that look like a really bad hairpiece.
Ando's inspiration was a line of men in war-torn Osaka, just after the second world war, waiting patiently at a black-market stall for a helping of ramen noodles. If he could come up with a method and a container that would require no real preparation or any cooking equipment to produce such a cheap meal as ramen soup, he realized he could make a fortune.
He had seen Americans breaking noodles into manageable lengths, steeping them in cups of hot water, and then eating them with a fork, not chopsticks. So the waterproof, heat-retaining polystyrene cup with a tear-off lid was the obvious container.
The challenge was how to introduce flavor without making the noodles squishy once the boiling water had been poured over them. His equipment was a secondhand noodle-maker, a large wok and a watering can. Flavored soup was sprinkled over flash-fried noodles that were left to absorb the taste and dehydrate a little. Next he kneaded them by hand to keep the strands separated before letting them dry out completely.
Although you can now buy Cup Noodles and Top Ramen in 15 flavors in those little add-in sachets, including Shrimp, Spicy Chili, Spicy Cheese and Vegetable, Ando started out with chicken in true marketing style because it was the only flavor that could offend no culture or religion.
Last year, according to the Financial Times, Nissin Food reported operating profits of $307 million, with the noodles sold in 70 countries.
The British version, made by Unilever, was voted in a 2002 survey as the favorite food of 44.6 percent of 11- to 19-year-olds.
When they reach for their kettle of boiling water and rip open their noodle lunch, students might reflect upon the entrepreneurial lesson the history of their pot noodles could teach them.
What they make up for in budget savings for the buyer, however, they lose in nutritional value. Left to their own devises, there's almost none. On the upside, they contain no cholesterol or sugar. And an individual serving of 64 grams in dry weight contains 296 calories, not high for a meal. But 127 of those come from fat. Then there are the whopping 1,434 milligrams of salt and 36.8 grams in total carbohydrates. While they include 12 percent iron, the only other nutrient is 8 percent of vitamin A.
On the other hand, if you tinker with them, they can become nutritious. Of course, this is not what Ando had in mind. And it adds to their cost. But a student or worker or anyone else who relies on pot noodles for a serious meal should weigh their health against their budget. If they can be persuaded to put in a little extra investment of money and effort, the noodles can be turned into a nutritious dish. Because often what prevents people using regular noodles as a base for anything is the cooked-from-scratch variety can so easily become the mushy mess Ando cut out of his instant-noodle process.
So by all means, cook Cup or Top Ramen noodles according to instructions. After all, a Japanese astronaut took them with him on the space shuttle Discovery. But throw out the flavor sachet. Cook them instead in some ready-bought chicken stock, and add the following easy cooking activity:
Serves 1
-- half a chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
-- 1½ cups of fresh vegetables -- suggestions follow, but make your own list:
-- ½ cup finely shredded cabbage
-- 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into paper-thin circles
-- small handful bean sprouts
-- handful of green beans, broken into 1-inch lengths
-- ½ cup of broccoli florets
-- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
-- Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium heat.
-- Add your vegetables of choice (except for bean sprouts) and toss to coat, then add 1 tablespoon of water and a little soy sauce or salt and continue tossing for 2-3 minutes till the vegetables have softened slightly.
-- Pile on top of cooked noodles, add the bean sprouts if using, and eat.
