Long before the invention of instant noodles, people in the ancient East and West fried cooked noodles and served them with soup. There are already similar noodles in China called "Yi noodles" or "Yifu noodles" (which are also called "pasta" in Taiwan). It is said that during the Qing Dynasty, Yi Bingshou celebrated his mother's birthday at home. Due to the large number of guests, the chef was in a hurry and mistakenly put the cooked egg noodles into the boiling oil pan. He had to pick them up and serve them with broth. Since the guests were full of praise after eating it, this dish has been passed down. Early instant noodles packages still had Yi noodles and Yifu noodles written on them.
It is said that the first person to make instant noodles was a cook at the home of a prefect named Yi in Yangzhou, my country. He added eggs to the flour, rolled them into thin slices, cut them into thin strips, boiled them in water, and immediately fried them in oil to dry. The noodles processed in this way can be soaked in hot water at any time and are very convenient to eat.
As for non-fried instant noodles, it can be traced back to the invention of Han Xin’s army in the Western Han Dynasty in China in the third year of Emperor Gaozu’s reign (205 BC). When Han Xin led 100,000 troops in Heyang on the bank of the Yellow River and prepared to attack Wei Bao, the king of Wei in the east and west of the river, in order to solve the problem of marching rations, he invented a paste of buckwheat flour and wheat flour, cooked it into eight-mature large pancakes, and cut them into wide strips. This kind of noodle cake is easy to carry around and can be eaten by just adding water and boiling it. Therefore, it can also be regarded as the earliest form of instant noodles, just as tobacco leaves in ancient China were the earliest form of cigarettes.
Modern instant noodles, which became a fast-food product, were invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, ??a Taiwanese-Japanese, in Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture, in view of the long queues for a bowl of ramen at that time. After Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles, he founded Nissin Food Co., Ltd. to sell "Chikin Ramen" (called "Nissin Yi Noodles" in Hong Kong; "Nissin Ancestral Chicken Ramen" in mainland China) flavor. Initially The price was 35 yen, but imitation products soon appeared, leading to price-cutting competition.
Ando soon realized that the market must be regulated in order to maintain the reputation of the new product. In 1960, he won an instant noodles copyright lawsuit and registered the "Chicken Ramen" trademark the next year. In 1964, Ando established the Japan Ramen Industry Association and transferred instant noodles patents to the industry. Ando said that this move is to expand the industry and provide cheap and high-quality instant noodles to the people. After Nissin invented instant noodles, it actively developed overseas. In 1963, it first cooperated with South Korea's Samyang Food, and in 1968 it cooperated with an international food company in Taiwan to launch chicken soup-flavored San Miguel noodles. The original San Miguel noodles did not sell well in Taiwan because they used a Japanese recipe. After adjusting the seasoning and texture of the noodles, it has become a best-selling product in Taiwan. Most customers buy it home as a late-night snack, or cook it with eggs. There was a time when "San Miguel noodles" became almost synonymous with this type of product. However, due to poor management, San Miguel finally withdrew from the market. As of 2005, only one San Miguel noodle store from the former international food company continued to operate in Xinxing District, Kaohsiung City, but it had already withdrawn from the instant noodle market.
Although instant noodles were well received in Asia, they were unable to successfully open the market in the United States in the late 1960s. Because Americans generally do not have the habit of boiling water, and the tableware at home is mainly dinner plates. In order to allow people who are not accustomed to using bowls to consume instant noodles, Nissin invented cup noodles in expanded polystyrene containers. They were launched in Japan in 1971 and sold for 100 yen (US$0.25), which was the first time that bagged instant noodles were sold at that time. More than three times the price.
During the trial period, the cup was sold at stadiums, racetracks and other places. It was unpopular due to its high price, and in the end it could only be sold in certain units that had to be on duty at night, such as the fire brigade and the Japanese Self-Defense Force. In order to open up the market, Momofuku Ando cooperated with Mitsukoshi Department Store in a promotion in downtown Tokyo, setting a record of selling 20,000 copies in four hours, which laid the foundation for Japanese people to accept cup noodles. Since cup noodles are more expensive, the ingredients include freeze-dried shrimp, and forks are used as cutlery. Tokyo street promotions helped Cup Noodles gain a foothold in Kanto. In February 1972, the Asama Villa incident occurred in Japan, where the Red Army took hostages and confronted the police. Cup Noodles became an instant hit after footage of police officers eating them was broadcast live on television.