Kyodo News (as spotted in the Sydney Morning Herald) is reporting that Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles, has passed away aged 96. Ando founded the company Nissin Foods and in 1958 created the first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen. In 1971 he came up with cup noodle concept. In one survey the Japanese rated instant noodles as their greatest invention, even beyond karaoke and Walkmans. Now instant noodles are found across the world, including our kitchen. In fact, I had pot noodles for lunch yesterday! Ando-san, domo arigato gozaimasu!
I do wonder what Mr Ando would have thought of the recipes for instant noodle dishes on the Nissin foods website (Top Ramen Pizza anyone?).