How the Cup Noodles Empire Was Built

In college in the mid 1970's, I had a roommate from Taiwan. She introduced me to ramen noodles. At that time you could only buy them in Chinatown. I used to get them by the case.

It's rare that a video on a subject that's already been covered elsewhere can cover a bunch of information I never heard of. Brilliant and not a waste of time. Thank you, Weird History.

The wild part about Momofuku ando's story was he technically wasn't a Japanese citizen between 1945 (when he gave up japanese citizenship to keep his property on Taiwan) and 1966

Annnnd... my stomach's college food budget induced PTSD returns.

I was introduced to ramen while stationed in Korea in the 80s. Some of our field problems would last over a month and no one wants to eat MREs for that long, so we would each buy a case of ramen & mix & match to make our own gourmet dinners!

The best inventions always came from the worst time. Thank you Ando, for making our lives a hella lot less misery!

I've probably eaten more instant ramen than anyone else should over the past 14 or so years but I never knew the origins until now. Thanks for teaching me something while I eat my breakfast, unsurprisingly, it's instant ramen

in my teens an Asian mom showed me the magic of tossing eggs into the boiling water with the noodles to make it a meal. I'm in my 40s and it's still one of my go to quick lunch.

Nongshim-ShinRamyun is my favorite instant ramen. I buy it in boxes of 20, because it's that good. Nissin brand noodles are unfortunately not available in the grocery store here in my small village in Germany, so I've never had the chance to try them. But I'm very much thankful to the inventor of instant ramen 🙏

Watching this while eating cup noodles feels oddly satisfying

the power of convenience meets the power of marketing

I love Weird History videos! 😊❤

Pretty amazing, actually what can be replicated in instant form! I once found that simple but tasty miso soup they serve you in Japanese restaurants in a Trader Joe's mix and it had exactly what you would find in a serving, right down to how it lightly clouded up and perfect little tofu pieces in it!

It’s worth mentioning that the Cup Noodles billboard in Times Square also released steam like it was hot.

It still blows my mind that you make cup noodles in a Microwave in the US. Here in the UK, it is boil water in a kettle and pour it into the cup.

another fantastic video to enjoy while eating :D, thanks y'all

I think the first time I tried Cup Noodles around 2010, while there were instant noodles/soup brands like Knorr or Maggi here in Argentina, there were mostly those angel hair or spaghetti-o's type of pasta. But Cup Noodles and Maruchan have found a kind of niche market here, though ironically they're kind of expensive. Still, while convenient, it doesn't beat a real bowl of fresh ramen, I think due to the popularity of anime and Japanese food culture there's more ramen restaurants here I also find it interesting that one of the most popular Japanese inventions was the creation of a Taiwanese man and it's technically a Chinese dish, though some of the best dishes are adaptations of other cultures dishes. Maruchan instant noodles are also very popular in Mexico

I always enjoy these Weird Food History videos. I especially watch these videos while having a meal.

I read a book to my 6th Graders called Magic Ramen. It's the story of Momofuko Ando and it aligns extremely well with this video. Going to have to show them this to compare!

Hahaha so hilarious and informative. I love your vid. All thumbs up!