10 Things About Instant Ramen You’ll Be Embarrassed You Never KnewEveryone loves ramen these days. Classic ramen restaurants populate the countrys biggest cities, and people love the instant stuff so much they have turned it into a hamburger bun, a lobster roll and even a burrito. We just cant get enough of the salty and addictive noodles. And as we all learned in college, instant ramen noodles are there for you, waiting to be cooked and ready to be eaten in just five minutes. Here are 10 things you never knew about your favorite go-to food, even if you eat it every day.1. The first instant ramen was considered a luxury item in supermarkets. Although today its considered a college staple and something you eat if youre broke, instant ramen used to be quite expensive in Japan. Momofuku Ando, the creator of Nissin ramen products, invented Chicken Ramen, an instant snack that could be eaten easily and anywhere in 1958, when he noticed food was scarce after World War II. But when it arrived on Japanese supermarket shelves, it was seen as a very expensive product since fresh udon noodles sold for one-sixth the cost of Chicken Ramen.2. Its the best-selling item at Rikers prison. The commissary at Rikers Island in New York needs to always make sure it is stocked up on Cup Noodles. It sells for 35 cents and, according to the New York Post, its the most popular food item sold. Prison guards provide the prisoners with hot water to eat their beloved ramen. And sometimes, inmates discard the noodles and use the intense seasoning packets to flavor the bland prison cafeteria food. 3. Only the Oriental and Chili flavors of Nissin and Maruchan Top Ramen are vegetarian. It may be hard to believe that the Nissin and Maruchan seasoning packets in the Chicken, Beef and Shrimp flavors actually contain animal products, but they do. The Chicken flavor includes chicken fat and/or powder, the Beef flavor includes beef fat and/or powder and the Shrimp flavor includes shrimp powder. 4. Some people (like David Chang) like to eat ramen without even cooking it. Chang, founder of the Momofuku restaurant empire, explains in Mind of a Chef, the appeal of biting into a chunk of uncooked ramen sprinkled with seasoning as an after-school snack:I think I was around eight years old. Id come home from school and instead of having Hot Pockets and stuff, I had ramen. I didnt know it was bad for you to consume as a kid. I thought it was good for you.5. Ramen is the Japanese word for Chinese lo mein. The Japanese owe it to the Chinese for the trendy foods name. Ramen is the Japanese pronunciation of the kanji characters for lo mein or lau mein in Chinese. Its no surprise that ramen is inspired by lo-mein, another boiled noodle dish invented centuries ago. 6. And China eats instant ramen more than any other country. Chinas global demand for instant noodles is the highest, according to the World Instant Noodles Association (yes, thats a real thing). In 2013, China consumed 46,220 million packets of ramen. Tong-Yi Instant Noodles, a popular Chinese brand, is sold almost everywhere, from Walmart to street stalls. 7. According to one survey, the Japanese consider ramen their best invention. Aside from all the technology Japan has gifted the world, in 2000 Its a fact that instant ramen is cheap. Maybe thats why businesses are considered ramen-profitable when they are taking in more money than they are spending. And since it usually costs the consumer about 13 cents a package (depending on where they live), it will only cost you $142.65 dollars a year if you decide to live off of it. To put this in perspective: The average American spends $7,852 on food a year. 9. Theres a whole museum in Japan dedicated to ramens history. Its called the Shinoyokohama Raumen Museum (we dont know why they spell it like that either) and it is the worlds first fast-food-themed amusement park. The museum showcases nine ramen shops that highlight different instant ramen varieties all over the country. Visitors can make their own ramen concoctions and include cute customized naruto (fish cake) pieces with animals printed on them. 10. The first noodles ever consumed in space were instant ramen noodles. Momofuku Ando wanted to make ramen portable and easy to eat not only on earth, but also in space, and he succeeded in 2005. Two years before he died, Ando created Space Ram, a vacuum-packed ramen made with smaller noodles (so they can be cooked without using boiled water) and a thicker broth (to prevent dispersal). It was made for Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchis trip in the Discovery space shuttle.Bonus: Justin Timberlakes hair in the 90s was an unintentional advertisement for instant ramen. We hope this style comes back soon. Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. By Renee Jacques Everyone loves ramen these days. Classic ramen restaurants populate the countrys biggest cities, and people love the instant stuff so much they have turned it into a hamburger bun, a lobster roll and even a burrito. We just cant get enough of the salty and addictive noodles. And as we all learned in college, instant ramen noodles are there for you, waiting to be cooked and ready to be eaten in just five minutes. Here are 10 things you never knew about your favorite go-to food, even if you eat it every day.1. The first instant ramen was considered a luxury item in supermarkets. Although today its considered a college staple and something you eat if youre broke, instant ramen used to be quite expensive in Japan. Momofuku Ando, the creator of Nissin ramen products, invented Chicken Ramen, an instant snack that could be eaten easily and anywhere in 1958, when he noticed food was scarce after World War II. But when it arrived on Japanese supermarket shelves, it was seen as a very expensive product since fresh udon noodles sold for one-sixth the cost of Chicken Ramen.2. Its the best-selling item at Rikers prison. The commissary at Rikers Island in New York needs to always make sure it is stocked up on Cup Noodles. It sells for 35 cents and, according to the New York Post, its the most popular food item sold. Prison guards provide the prisoners with hot water to eat their beloved ramen. And sometimes, inmates discard the noodles and use the intense seasoning packets to flavor the bland prison cafeteria food. 3. Only the Oriental and Chili flavors of Nissin and Maruchan Top Ramen are vegetarian. It may be hard to believe that the Nissin and Maruchan seasoning packets in the Chicken, Beef and Shrimp flavors actually contain animal products, but they do. The Chicken flavor includes chicken fat and/or powder, the Beef flavor includes beef fat and/or powder and the Shrimp flavor includes shrimp powder. 4. Some people (like David Chang) like to eat ramen without even cooking it. Chang, founder of the Momofuku restaurant empire, explains in Mind of a Chef, the appeal of biting into a chunk of uncooked ramen sprinkled with seasoning as an after-school snack:I think I was around eight years old. Id come home from school and instead of having Hot Pockets and stuff, I had ramen. I didnt know it was bad for you to consume as a kid. I thought it was good for you.5. Ramen is the Japanese word for Chinese lo mein. The Japanese owe it to the Chinese for the trendy foods name. Ramen is the Japanese pronunciation of the kanji characters for lo mein or lau mein in Chinese. Its no surprise that ramen is inspired by lo-mein, another boiled noodle dish invented centuries ago. 6. And China eats instant ramen more than any other country. Chinas global demand for instant noodles is the highest, according to the World Instant Noodles Association (yes, thats a real thing). In 2013, China consumed 46,220 million packets of ramen. Tong-Yi Instant Noodles, a popular Chinese brand, is sold almost everywhere, from Walmart to street stalls. 7. According to one survey, the Japanese consider ramen their best invention. Aside from all the technology Japan has gifted the world, in 2000 Its a fact that instant ramen is cheap. Maybe thats why businesses are considered ramen-profitable when they are taking in more money than they are spending. And since it usually costs the consumer about 13 cents a package (depending on where they live), it will only cost you $142.65 dollars a year if you decide to live off of it. To put this in perspective: The average American spends $7,852 on food a year. 9. Theres a whole museum in Japan dedicated to ramens history. Its called the Shinoyokohama Raumen Museum (we dont know why they spell it like that either) and it is the worlds first fast-food-themed amusement park. The museum showcases nine ramen shops that highlight different instant ramen varieties all over the country. Visitors can make their own ramen concoctions and include cute customized naruto (fish cake) pieces with animals printed on them. 10. The first noodles ever consumed in space were instant ramen noodles. Momofuku Ando wanted to make ramen portable and easy to eat not only on earth, but also in space, and he succeeded in 2005. Two years before he died, Ando created Space Ram, a vacuum-packed ramen made with smaller noodles (so they can be cooked without using boiled water) and a thicker broth (to prevent dispersal). It was made for Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchis trip in the Discovery space shuttle.Bonus: Justin Timberlakes hair in the 90s was an unintentional advertisement for instant ramen. We hope this style comes back soon. Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr. Source:: huffingtonpost ift.tt/1gB4pon
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:44:36 +0000
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