the ramen blog & other goodies!

Nissin Food Products has announced a new “refillable” version of their world-famous Cup Noodles in March of this year. This new version of Nissin’s venerable product will have a plastic container instead of the traditional styrofoam cup, and was developed out of concerns for the environment.

The refillable Cup Noodles will be sold as a starter kit of a cup and 2 refills for 599 yen each (around $5), with additional refills, available in regular and seafood flavors, at 128 yen each (about a dollar).

A Nissin spokesman was quoted as hoping that this new product will appeal to environmentally conscious people, such as “the elderly and women”…hmm…interesting demographics.

If and when this product is available in the U.S., I’ll be there, fighting my way past the hoards of women and the elderly, I’m sure, to buy my very own cup and to save the world!

Source: Mainichi Daily via plasticbamboo

The Feb 1, 2007 issue of Shukan Bunshun

The Japanese magazine shukanbunshun just published an interview with Momofuku Ando’s eldest son (by his first wife) ???? (sorry, I don’t know the “English” version of his name), with some revealing details about Mr. Ando’s life. (more…)

Me: Guess what I’m reviewing next? Cup Noodles!
Wife: Cup…Noodles…is there *anyone* in the world who hasn’t had Cup Noodles before? Why would you want to review something *everyone* has had before?
Me: (silence…)
Wife: sigh…

First of all, I haven’t actually had Cup Noodles in quite a while. From what I remember though, only the smaller 2-packs of the Cup Noodles beef flavor had the tiny bits of beef in it. The large single-serving Cup Noodles only had beef powder. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the large version now also has beef bits! And look, zero grams of trans fat! Now I’ve never considered Cup Noodles to be instant “ramen” per se. That is, it’s nothing remotely like a bowl of Japanese ramen you’d get at a ramen place. But then again, Cup Noodles has never aspired to be anything but a …err…cup of noodles.

That said, it’s a good cup of noodles! It’s not fantastic, it’s not amazing, but it’s satisfying and fills you up. The noodles are a bit on the limp side, even if you time the boiling water exactly right. The soup tastes like beef-flavored water, but in a good way. And sipping the soup, with the little beef and carrot bits, and the corn and peas…there’s something about this concoction that just brings a satisfied smile to my face.

Billions and billions of people worldwide can’t be wrong, and I give Cup Noodles (beef flavor) a solid 7.

There’s been a flurry of comments (well, a handful anyway) posted about the late Momofuku Ando ???? and his racial background. One of our readers “Z.A.” took me to task for referring to Mr. Ando as a Chinese person, and the New York Times also claims that Mr. Ando’s parents were Japanese, while Danny Bloome of Japundit and the Los Angeles Times make a case for Ando-san being Taiwanese. Taiwanese news sources also claim that Mr. Ando’s parents are Taiwanese, not Japanese.

Also, one thing I neglected to mention in my original post was that Mr. Ando’s name at birth was Wu Bai Fu ???.

At this point, I’m more inclined to believe that Mr. Ando is in fact Taiwanese. While I personally don’t think Mr. Ando’s actual ancestry makes any difference to his contributions to the world, I’m certainly curious to find out the facts. Does anyone have anything definitive about Mr. Ando’s ethnicity?

For the past 2 weeks, newspapers, tv, and blogs galore have been talking about the death of Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant ramen. Here is a collection of some of my favorite posts, videos, and links regarding Mr. Ando and instant noodles.

The animated version of the history of instant ramen (japanese only, unfortunately)

Cup Noodle’s history in graphic novel form.

Who wants a cup noodle timer!

This article has a great description of Mr. Ando’s last days: “On Thursday, the day before he died, Ando visited the company he founded and joined some employees for lunch. Chicken Ramen was served. He ate it.”

Hey, what a great article on Mr. Ando and ramen! (ok, it does talk about yours truly…but it’s worth reading! Honest!

This Cup Noodle commercial (filmed in space?!) celebrates Mr. Ando’s dream of instant ramen in space. (I really like the “no borders” tagline.)

How ramen changed my life

A cartoon strip tribute to Mr. Ando.

…and finally…probably the most creative yet succinct eulogy I’ve read so far.

The inventor of instant ramen, Momofuku Ando, passed away today at the ripe old age of 96. He was the founder of Nissin Food Products (Cup Noodle) and was the first to perfect a flash-frying method of cooking to create Chikin Ramen, the world’s first “instant ramen.”

Interestingly enough, Chikin Ramen was originally considered a luxury food, as it was many times more costly than fresh noodles (udon).

Ironically, Mr. Ando was born in Taiwan. So a Japanese version of a Chinese noodle was popularized by a Chinese person who founded one of the most widely-recognized Japanese food manufacturer in the U.S.

Thanks to misterstarfish for the heads up!