Nissin has reported that Momofuku Ando has died in Japan at the age of 93.

The ubiquitous ramen a lot of us lived on in college (also sometimes called
gakusei ryori or "student cuisine" in Japan) was invented in 1958 by Nissin
Foods founder Momofuku Ando. Momofuku was in his late 40s when he had the
brainstorm of feeding the post-war masses with instant noodles.

In spite of all the bad jokes and comments about instant ramen and the
poverty-stricken students (me among them) who used it as a way to eke out
spending money and supplement dorm meals, it was and is one of the great
inventions of the last 50 years.

Ed

"Ed Regal" wrote in message
...
Nissin has reported that Momofuku Ando has died in Japan at the age of 93.

The ubiquitous ramen a lot of us lived on in college (also sometimes
called
gakusei ryori or "student cuisine" in Japan) was invented in 1958 by
Nissin
Foods founder Momofuku Ando. Momofuku was in his late 40s when he had the
brainstorm of feeding the post-war masses with instant noodles.

In spite of all the bad jokes and comments about instant ramen and the
poverty-stricken students (me among them) who used it as a way to eke out
spending money and supplement dorm meals, it was and is one of the great
inventions of the last 50 years.

Ed


Mr. Ando and Nissin Foods should be credited not only for instant ramen (dry
noodes in packages with soup packet)
but with his later invention in 1971, the kappu ramen known globally as CUP
NOODLES.
Here the noodles and soup base are together in a styrofoam cup and one just
adds hot water.
M

But what ever happened to tomato-flavored instant ramen? it seems to
have vanished from the face of the earth, and it had rather a cult
following amongst aficianados!

wrote in message
ups.com...
But what ever happened to tomato-flavored instant ramen? it seems to
have vanished from the face of the earth, and it had rather a cult
following amongst aficianados!


Really? I wan't aware of this.

On 2007-01-07 12:36:38 -0800, "Musashi" said:

wrote in message
ups.com...
But what ever happened to tomato-flavored instant ramen? it seems to
have vanished from the face of the earth, and it had rather a cult
following amongst aficianados!

Really? I wan't aware of this.

An aficionado of instant ramen. I'll have to ponder that phrase for a bit...
--
///---

Gerry wrote:

On 2007-01-07 12:36:38 -0800, "Musashi" said:

wrote in message
ups.com...

But what ever happened to tomato-flavored instant ramen? it seems to
have vanished from the face of the earth, and it had rather a cult
following amongst aficianados!


Really? I wan't aware of this.


An aficionado of instant ramen. I'll have to ponder that phrase for a
bit...

Some brands were better than others.. my favorite when I was growing up
was Ramen Pride beef flavored.

--
Dan

You can still make your own tomato ramen, but it takes an extra gourmet
cooking step - namely opening up a can of concentrated tomato soup and
adding another can of water, and cooking the ramen in it - one of my
favorite ramen recipes.

By the way, I have not been able to figure out why people pay about
4-10X the price for instant ramen in the Asian markets, since Maruchan
et al at 10 cents a bag in the supermarkets is just as good if not
better.

Really? I wan't aware of this.


Yup. I just googled this up. See, I'm not the only one!

http://mattfischer.com/ramen/?feed=rss2&p=306

wrote in message
ups.com...
You can still make your own tomato ramen, but it takes an extra gourmet
cooking step - namely opening up a can of concentrated tomato soup and
adding another can of water, and cooking the ramen in it - one of my
favorite ramen recipes.

By the way, I have not been able to figure out why people pay about
4-10X the price for instant ramen in the Asian markets, since Maruchan
et al at 10 cents a bag in the supermarkets is just as good if not
better.


The question is similar to why anyone would pay $7.00 a piece for a Toro
nigiri at a
sushi restaurant when they can buy an entire pack of sushi for that price at
A&P.
I differ with you when you say that the supermarket brands (such as
Maruchan) are
"just as good". I believe this is subjective.
I started eating instant ramen as a kid in Japan and I can remember when
brands like
Charumera and Sapporo Ichiban first hit the market in the late 60s. Instant
Ramen has
been around so long in Japan now that there must be literally a thousand
brands and
everyone has their favorite or favorites. I pay high prices in Japanese food
stores here
to buy the brands I know and like.
The instant ramen sold in US supermarkets are flavored (the soup packets)
for American customers.
In Japan there is no such thing as "beef" or "chicken" for ramen. The
chicken flavor soup sold here
is designed to closely approximate what US consumers are familar
with...chicken soup.
The "original" flavor probably comes closest to what you'd normally find in
Japan.
And the reverse also holds true, you won't find common soup flavors like
Miso, Shio, Tonkotsu
here in US supermarkets. Plus anything with Hangul (Korean alphabet) writing
on it is going to
be hot enough to knock your socks off.
The "men" or noodles also varies depending on brand. In Japan there is the
"cup noodle" type
(just add water), the standard instant ramen with dehydrated noodles (boil),
and the "nama-mem"
or "fresh noodle" type which is already cooked fresh soft noodles that
simply need to be warmed up.
The last one comes closest to a real bowl of ramen in a ramen shop and is
the most expensive.
Having said all that, the supermarket ramen in the US has served a great
purpose helping out college
kids, people on budgets, or people who simply were satified with the
flavors. I can remember keeping
them around in my younger days. But for the most part I'd say it would be a
mistake to think that
the supermarket ramen is the same as those found in Oriental food markets.
Musashi

Musashi wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
You can still make your own tomato ramen, but it takes an extra gourmet
cooking step - namely opening up a can of concentrated tomato soup and
adding another can of water, and cooking the ramen in it - one of my
favorite ramen recipes.

By the way, I have not been able to figure out why people pay about
4-10X the price for instant ramen in the Asian markets, since Maruchan
et al at 10 cents a bag in the supermarkets is just as good if not
better.


The question is similar to why anyone would pay $7.00 a piece for a Toro
nigiri at a
sushi restaurant when they can buy an entire pack of sushi for that price at



I figured the Asian market stuff must have its devotees - they seem to
sell a lot of it - but personally i can't detect any difference between
Sapporo Ichiban et al and the 10 cent supermarket brands, like
Maruchan.

There are some new instant packaged Asian rice dishes that I like - a
rice congee with fish package from Vietnam, and a fried rice package
from Thailand, my current favorite.




ww

wrote in message
oups.com...

Musashi wrote:
wrote in message
ups.com...
You can still make your own tomato ramen, but it takes an extra
gourmet
cooking step - namely opening up a can of concentrated tomato soup and
adding another can of water, and cooking the ramen in it - one of my
favorite ramen recipes.

By the way, I have not been able to figure out why people pay about
4-10X the price for instant ramen in the Asian markets, since Maruchan
et al at 10 cents a bag in the supermarkets is just as good if not
better.


The question is similar to why anyone would pay $7.00 a piece for a Toro
nigiri at a
sushi restaurant when they can buy an entire pack of sushi for that
price at



I figured the Asian market stuff must have its devotees - they seem to
sell a lot of it - but personally i can't detect any difference between
Sapporo Ichiban et al and the 10 cent supermarket brands, like
Maruchan.


That's ok. The customers I see in the Japanese food stores, like the giant
Mitsuwa in Edgewater NJ,
picking and choosing instant ramen tend to be either Japanese who grew up
with their favorites or
others who may have been exposed to various brands while visiting or living
in Japan.

There are some new instant packaged Asian rice dishes that I like - a
rice congee with fish package from Vietnam, and a fried rice package
from Thailand, my current favorite.


I admit such packages are convenient, but if one has time and access to a
kitchen I think home-made
is better. My main gripe with such pre-made packages is usually what I
consider to be a high salt content.
But, as I said, it is indeed convenient.
M




ww

I admit such packages are convenient, but if one has time and access to
a
kitchen I think home-made
is better.

--- No question about that!


My main gripe with such pre-made packages is usually what I
consider to be a high salt content.


--- All of the instant ramen flavorings - supermarket and Asian market
- are MSG and a chemical soup.


But, as I said, it is indeed convenient.



--- yup


--- ww
M

I'd say that the $1 "Remen" big bowl packs aren't that bad. I add some
tofu and fungus and seaweed - they now have three flavor packs - and I
only choose the ones with rice noodles (not fried).. I usually don't
use the whole flavor packs except for the dehydrated vegetables. The
half-used pscks are good to freeze and make stock later on..

Howard Johnson wrote:
I'd say that the $1 "Remen" big bowl packs aren't that bad. I add some
tofu and fungus and seaweed - they now have three flavor packs - and I
only choose the ones with rice noodles (not fried).. I usually don't
use the whole flavor packs except for the dehydrated vegetables. The
half-used pscks are good to freeze and make stock later on..


Add good stuff, like seaweed and tofu or a can of tuna fish or shrimp
or crab or egg or whatever, to the plain old ten cents ramen noodles
and it will be even much better than that $1 big bowl!