Impact in an Instant: How Ramen Noodle Creator Momofuku Ando Fed Post-War Japan, Created Business Empire

Most of us associate ramen noodles with college dorm food or a cheap, filling meal when we were young, single and broke.

But the inventor of ramen noodles—Japanese entrepreneur Momofuku Ando—had a far loftier goal in mind. World War II devastated Japan and despite food rations sent by the United States, many residents of Japan’s cities suffered from food storages.  Ando sought to create something inexpensive and easy to store that could feed his country’s hungry masses.

He stumbled across the secret of ramen—flash-frying the noodles in hot oil—by accident. But his discovery led to a culinary revolution, and the creation of a company that has sold up to 40 billion units of ramen annually.

Click here to watch a short video on “How Instant Ramen Became an Overnight Success” from Great Big Story.