Inventor of Instant Ramen Noodles Dies at 96

Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles and founder and chairman of Nissan Foods died yesterday at the age of 96. Slashfood has more details.

I mention this here because ramen noodles are one of the things that tie together two formative periods in my life. Ramen (and caffeine) powered me through graduate school and have helped me survive the early years of motherhood. I don’t cook ramen quite as often as I did when a student, but it’s a lifesaver on the occasions when my son hasn’t napped and I can’t manage anything more creative in the kitchen. I still always fortify the noodles with plenty of vegetables and tofu, leftover chicken, or an egg. I throw away the MSG-laden flavor packet and season the broth with a combination of soy sauce and fish sauce. The speedy little noodles are the heart of the meal, however, and my son loves them. I guess graduate school was good for something after all.

Slashfood reports that in 2005 85.7 billion servings of instant noodles were sold, and a recent research survey showed the Japanese public felt that instant noodles were the most important invention of the last century. With a record like that, I won’t feel so lame when I look in the pantry and pull out a couple of cellophane-wrapped bricks of ramen for my family’s dinner. I may even make some tomorrow in honor of Ando-san.