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Passing of the Ramen King, Inventor Instant Noodles

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by hb06, Jan 7, 2007.

  1. hb06

    hb06 Member

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    "Ando's entrepreneurial genius was to shuck off centuries of tradition and realize that noodles did not necessarily have to be cooked fresh and served only after being steeped in vats of boiling water. After tinkering for a year in his backyard shed, he discovered that noodles could be dried, packaged and rehydrated in a bowl of boiling water in just three minutes — and served almost anywhere."

    "Ando's personal success story mirrored Japan's fall and rise from the ashes. He was 48 when he invented the noodles that would make his fame and fortune, after having incurred a long list of business setbacks."

    "His invention arrived at the precipitous moment that Japan, too, was getting back on its feet. The country was beginning to modernize in the late 1950s, with supermarkets opening and Japanese consumers developing demand for products that smacked of the nascent high-tech age."

    http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07008/752108-34.stm
     
    #1 hb06, Jan 7, 2007
  2. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    Did he die of coronary disease from ingesting all of that palm oil that they're made with?
     
    #2 priusenvy, Jan 7, 2007
  3. viking31

    viking31 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Jan 7 2007, 09:20 PM) [snapback]372293[/snapback]</div>
    Yes, the cause of death is listed as heart disease at 96. Perhaps if he watched his diet more carefully he could have lived another four months...;-)
     
    #3 viking31, Jan 7, 2007
  4. mojo

    mojo Senior Member

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    #4 mojo, Jan 8, 2007
  5. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Member

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    I want to be enbalmed with palm oil, dried using the same process, and then rehydrated in 3 minutes sometime in the future.
     
    #5 bigdaddy, Jan 8, 2007
  6. hb06

    hb06 Member

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    A telling story of resilience and setbacks, leading to the founding of Nissin foods, and providing starving survivors of WWII a convenient and available food source.

    "He asked himself if there was not a faster way to serve all those busy-but-famished construction workers and salarymen who were working late shifts and overtime hours to rebuild Japan after the war. "
     
    #6 hb06, Jan 8, 2007
  7. dragonfly

    dragonfly New Member

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    I bet he's enjoying a nice beer from the volcano right now with the Maker. (I mean the OTHER Maker.) Ramen.
     
    #7 dragonfly, Jan 27, 2007
  8. ceric

    ceric New Member

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    Ando-san was a Taiwanese immigrant to Japan during WWII time (Taiwan was colony of Japan for 50 years). He refused to admit himself as Taiwanese in public and interviews.
    And no, he didn't invent the Ramen. He bought the patent from another Chinese-immigrant (or Taiwanese) in Tokyo at that time. Ando-san was the one that made ramen popular and had the gut to invest heavily to do so (and probably improved on it). I gave him credit for that. However, he is NOT the inventor of Ramen. This news was all over Japan and Taiwan. Too bad, the same news in US just seems distorted.
     
    #8 ceric, Jan 27, 2007
  9. hb06

    hb06 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ceric @ Jan 26 2007, 10:00 PM) [snapback]381556[/snapback]</div>
    Yes, he was a Taiwanese immigrant and no, he didn't invent Ramen, but he is due the credit for making the noodles "instant" and for again revolutionizing the industry with instant "cup of noodles" in the 70's, which is the reason for dubbing him the "Ramen King". Both Japanese and Taiwanese newspapers have acknowledged his achievement.

    "...in 1958 and after many sleepless nights, Ando finally succeeded in preserving the noodles in his backyard workshop, which he had built for the sole purpose of making instant ramen."

    News from Japan-Osaka:
    http://www.ibo.or.jp/e/2000_1/ramen/ramen.html

    Taipei Times:
    http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archiv...1/07/2003343789
     
    #9 hb06, Jan 27, 2007
  10. Jack Ack

    Jack Ack New Member

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    Ramen noodles are listed in almost every nutritionist publication of one of the Top Five Most Unhealthy Foods. Of course, I didn't know about this until I had gone through college mini-
    mizing, more than any other sector of my budget, food costs. I ate untold hundreds of the packages (and later, cups), most purchased for $.08 or $.09 each. We became aware in the 70's that MSG isn't good for you, but I heard nothing about how bad palm oil is until the late 80's or early 90's.

    Given the amounts of trans-fat-laden oils most of us have consumed in our lives, and the current level of "oil awareness", is it reasonable to think average life expectancies in the next generation will make a quantum jump? Or are all the other user-unfriendly food additives we continue to eat so prevalent that average improvements will be enjoyed only among accumulations of people who make acroos-the-board overhauls of their fiets?
     
    #10 Jack Ack, Jan 27, 2007
  11. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    This is NEWS! And could be detramental the the FSM as it is comprised I think of ramen noodles.... Im sure someone will just pick up the business and continue on, the profitable Ramen Noodles are very popular among college students, homeless people & people down on thier luck. I say very popular due to they only cost $0.99.
     
    #11 hycamguy07, Jan 28, 2007
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