Our Founder – Momofuku Ando | Hacker News Reader

Our Founder – Momofuku Ando

nissin.com

163 pointsrawgabbit62 comments

It is a lie that Momofuku Ando invented instant ramen. The history of instant ramen as presented by Nissin must be questioned.

In Taiwan, there was Ke-shi-men (雞絲麵), in which the noodles were fried in oil and then returned to hot water.

Before the introduction of Chicken Ramen, Choju-men (長寿麺) was introduced by Cho Kokubun (張國文) and was widely known.

Momofuku Ando is a businessman who exploits these things, crushes his opponents with lawsuits, and simply advertises that he invented them.

Reference:

東明商行の張国文と「長寿麺」の立志伝: https://nobunaga-oda.com/tyou-kokubun/

NHK『まんぷく』チキンラーメンは本当に「発明」なのか | ハフポスト PROJECT: https://www.huffingtonpost.jp/entry/nhkmanpukuchikinramenwah...

『まんぷく』安藤百福の即席麺「発明は嘘」と異論噴出 | Smart FLASH/スマフラ[光文社週刊誌]: https://smart-flash.jp/lifemoney/63928/1/1/

Maybe it’s related that Momofuku Ando and his family were Taiwanese immigrants?

Humans have been dehydrating food for at least 12,000 years. I think it’s pretty unlikely that that he was the first to do in that fashion in 1958. I agree.

Momofuku Ando was born as Go Pek-Hok and his family was originally from Taiwan. Ando and Nissin are a prime example of why immigration is so important to a country’s business sector.

Immigrants are 60-80% more likely to start businesses. This is due to various factors. While discrimination and lack of opportunity might be a factor, it’s more likely because immigrants tend to be less risk averse as a group. Why? There’s no definitive answer. What we do know is that historically, even in times of famine or war, only 20% or less of a country’s population leave which is seen as risky behavior.

https://hbr.org/2021/08/research-why-immigrants-are-more-lik...

https://www.immigration.ca/study-explains-why-immigrants-are...

"Why? There’s no definitive answer."

I'd argue act of immigrating itself is risky behavior, so naturally that would be a less risk averse group.

I wonder how much of that is reflected in the differences between the USA and for example Europe (where the USA for a long time was mostly European immigrants)

The Cup of Noodles museum in Yokohama was well worth it (get there early if plan to go though, can get very busy).

Eh, I had the opposite experience. It’s definitely very geared towards elementary school age children.

There were a lot of families there, but we did enjoy it as adults. Obviously no need to go a second time.

My favorite part is that near the end, there's an American newspaper article on the wall that says Ando was once imprisoned for tax evasion before inventing instant noodles. This is mentioned exactly nowhere else in the museum.

My favorite part was the video that said Cup Noodles was invented when they tried to bring noodles to the USA and people in the USA didn't know what "cup" was. "丼？なにそれ？" in a super thick USA accent (lol). And thus they added the "cup" and "Cup Noodles was born"

Note: Whether or not it's a true story, it was the movie playing at the cup noodle museum in Yokohama

"What are chopsticks? What are bowls?" was in the subtitles I saw. I'm guessing it was a translation error, but the idea that Momofuku Ando introduced bowls to the US was pretty amusing.

It was really worth it. But seeing these claims leaves a bad taste on my mouth. It did seem to good to be true.

The best part of the museum is the chicken ramen factory, which you need to make a reservation for in advance. It is NOT the cup noodle factory.

Cup noodle factory: no reservations, draw on your cup, specify what toppings to put in

Chicken ramen factory: make ramen noodles from SCRATCH, send them off to be fried in front of you, draw the packaging

It's really worth the price of admission (1000 yen, maybe $6 USD) for the experience of making ramen noodles from scratch

If you’re in Kansai, you can take the Hankyuu Takarazuka line to Ikeda, near Momofuku Andos birthplace, where they have a noodle museum which not only has a noodle factory experience but also a recreation of his childhood home.

I didn't know that the Hankyuu Takarazuka line stretches across the Pacific Ocean!

Maybe you meant to say Umeda Station (Osaka)?

I meant to say kansai (fixed), but I guess autocorrect had other plans.

Went there & it was really nice. Can also recommend visiting the lookout & shrine above the town, a really nice view of Ikede and the whole Osaka aglomeration from up there. :)

Also the asadora drama about the invention of noodles starring (unrelated) Sakura Ando: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manpuku

Ever since reading “The Ramen King and I” I’ve been hoping/sporadically searching for a translation of Momofuku Ando’s book of quotes. Hard to even find mention of them…

Edit: title is Momofuku Ando Speaks: Human beings are Noodle Beings. https://books.google.com/books/about/Momofuku_Ando_Speaks.ht...

I’d like to strongly recommend “Project X: Cup Noodle,” a business manga (who knew! Wish more of these were translated) covering the story of the creation of Cup Noodle. Maybe read it while enjoying the titular product.

Oh /that's/ where David Chang got the name Momofuku from...? Interesting!

I was thinking the same thing!

Yep. It also means "lucky peach", which has a lot of positive connotations in Japan. But the original ramen place name was a nod to the inventor.

No, his name was 百福 which means "hundred fortunes". "Lucky peach" would be written as 桃福。

"Momo" can also mean "thigh", but then again that is a different character (腿/股). The most confusing part about languages influenced by Chinese, and the reason/excuse to keep using Chinese characters, is the high amount of homophones. Example for "momo": https://jisho.org/search/%E3%82%82%E3%82%82

I'm a big fan of JP fare, but I am consistently underwhelmed by popular JP ramen brands vs SKR/PRC/TW ramen. They clearly put a lot of effort in their instant noodles, but apart from their more korean/chinese/thai leaning flavours, most I've tried have been very mid.

Cup Noodles (and more generally instant noodles) is easily one of the most important inventions ever.

It's cheap, it's nutritious, it stores well (and easily), it ships easily (read: cheaply), and it prepares simply and quickly. Most importantly, it's delicious.

I know of no other food that checks all these boxes and then some.

Cheese, Hard Tack, Jerkey, Pickles, Kimche, Beer, Salt Pork, Rum, Instant Soup, Pemican, Wine, Dried Beans, Honey, Grain, Potatoes, Tons of Canned foods lets say peaches, regular pasta, Nut butter... yeah I can think of a ton of them, and everything I listed is much more nutritious than instant noodles which basically has carbs, salt, potassium lots of fat, some protein.

Where can you get jerkey, wine or nut butter for less money than instant noodles? I'm not familiar with the pricing for everything listed, but if I can find those 3 for cup noodle prices, that would be awesome.

unless you're eating a jar of nut butter in one sitting, I'm pretty sure it's going to be cheaper by far on a per serving basis.

I'm not personally going for the cheapest most shelf stable food every as the core of my diet.

Also nut butter does looks similar on micro nutrients, about an oz is very similar to a cup of noodles. maybe not as filling. I don't find cup o noodles all that filling though.

I wasn't really going on price. Also note that you're at 48% daily sodium for 1 thing of nissan instant noodles which is 290 calories (1/6th daily intake of 1800) and 20% of nutritional value. I can get my own cider down to about $0.28/12 oz bottle. My point was more that there are many storable foods and have been for a long time that provide nutrition and variation. And other than the salt pork aren't loaded with salt.

As spike said "man cannot live on carbohydrates alone" :)

Also I personally feel like shit after eating cup o noodles even if they are good tasty and cheap.

>nissan instant noodles

Nissan makes cars.

Nissin makes cup noodles.

Nisshin makes flour.

cool, thank you for setting me straight, really added to the conversation. I'll make sure to file a bug to Google autocorrect so that such egregious errors are not made in important conversations in the future.

How many of those do better than a package of instant ramen noodles on a nutrient tracker like Cronometer? One pack gives you 20% of the day’s nutrients. You think pickles, honey, beer, and wine come close to that? You need to recalibrate your intuitions: cronometer.com

I don't want to sign up to the product you're advertising, but without doing that I can say that while some packets of ramen may give you 20% of your required daily calory intake, there are more required nutrients than calories. Probably none of the other listed foods can give you everything on their own.

Was with you until potatoes. They don't last nearly as long as the other items.

> It's cheap, it's nutritious, it stores well (and easily), it ships easily (read: cheaply), and it prepares simply and quickly. Most importantly, it's delicious.

To add a kind of oddball one, fried instant noodles are a great item to have a few of when camping -- not because you can eat them, but because in a pinch the noodles are pretty good firestarters, especially when you're having a hard time finding small pieces of dry wood. And you can use the seasoning packets as a source of at least some electrolytes in a pinch.

I've never eaten any cup noodles that I found delicious (and not for lack of trying). Apart from the spiciness (for the "hot" flavors), they are rather bland.

There's minimal nutritional value in ramen. It's basically flour and salt, not to mention all the preservatives they add to it. Living on ramen alone would leave you heavily deficient in proteins, vitamins and minerals (other than salt).

the newer ones containing MSG's MSG (IMP GMP) will give you gout so yeah like all things in life, moderation is key

That was awesome, especially the bit about the Asama-Sansō incident. Also made me instantly want some noodles . . . .

Reminds me of one of my favourite ads, Nissin's 'Samurai Noodles "The Originator"': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNbb9qixsRQ

The homepage comes with a nice video on the invention of ramen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNbb9qixsRQ

(Turn on the subtitles)

Surprisingly that was a great story.

Nissin cup noodles (Japan version with nice toppings) are the only thing I eat on airplanes, even if I am flying business.

Why? Do you take your own?

Cathay Pacific and Singapore airlines usually has them in stock. You just ask.

I bring my own otherwise.

I went on a bit of the Trans-Siberian rail. Chinese dried ramen are sold at the station shops, the trains have samovars (hot water dispensers), originally for tea, so it's perfect for ramen.

I went to the "Top of Europe", a tourist trap at the Swiss glacier saddle of Jungfraujoch. There's a cafetaria up there, and by the cashier there's an empty ramen package (bowl-shape with its lid cellotaped on). I added 2 and 2 and laughed: it's for the Chinese tourists with the language barrier to point at and make the cashier understand, they want ramen...

umami sensor on the plane hits different, must be due to altitude/pressure etc I usually love a sip of tomato juice/bloody mary on the plane but never hit the same once I'm on the ground

The best flavour is the Curry Cup Noodles

My favorites are Cheese curry, and Tomato chili. Somehow last time I see in Japan there was alternative versions a little more expensive but it don't know the real difference besides price.

Both this biography and his page on Wikipedia skip over the war years. I wish there were more information about this time. He grew up under Japanese rule. Was he conscripted into their armed forces? How were the people of Taiwan treated by the Japanese during WWII?

The Japanese wikipedia page talks about it: He was imprisoned and tortured. The main source material is the book Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando (ISBN-10: 1499807031).

They come in a paper cup now, which is pretty awesome. Whoever came up with that idea, I applaud you.

> Space Ram journeyed into space in July 2005

Nissin's Yakisoba U.F.O. (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=UFO+Nissin one of my favorites) have since have been certified for space.

Not clear if Soichi Noguchi took it with him on his recent 2020 mission - https://humans-in-space.jaxa.jp/en/life/food-in-space/japane...

You can't buy them :( Instructions on how they are made - https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/30167/how-was-spac...

cool story but:

ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), PALM OIL, SALT, DRIED CARROT FLAKE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF AUTOLYZED YEAST EXTRACT, CITRIC ACID, CONCENTRATED GREEN CABBAGE JUICE, DEXTROSE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, DISODIUM SUCCINATE, DRIED CORN, DRIED PARSLEY, EGG WHITE, GARLIC POWDER, HYDROLYZED CORN PROTEIN, HYDROLYZED SOY PROTEIN, LACTOSE, MALTODEXTRIN, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ONION POWDER, POTASSIUM CARBONATE, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, POWDERED CHICKEN, RENDERED CHICKEN FAT, SILICON DIOXIDE, SODIUM ALGINATE, SODIUM CARBONATE, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSPHATE, SOYBEAN, SPICE AND COLOR, SUGAR, TBHQ (PRESERVATIVE), WHEAT.

yum!

Which part of that is disagreeable to you?

Palm oil, for starters. I really dislike the taste, and it's terrible for the planet too.

The only thing that bothers me personally is the all caps :)

I always wonder how those products have lactose in them, given that allegedly most East-Asians are lactose-intolerant.

It's a matter of degree, most of us can handle a certain amount of milk just fine...certainly enough to eat instant noodles and have a latte.

The dose makes the poison.

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