How Momofuku Ando invented instant ramen — and transformed Japanese cuisine

Momofuku Ando, who invented ramen instant noodles, would have celebrated his 105th birthday today. In addition to inspiring hip restaurants (and Google Doodles), he earned the adoration of a nation. In a 2000 poll, Japanese respondents said instant ramen was the country's top invention of the 20th century.

Ando died at 96 in January 2007, but his legacy endures — not least due to the widespread popularity of his most famous invention.

Momofuku Ando was born as Wu Baifu in Taiwan in 1910, and after World War II he emigrated to Japan and took his new name. There, he pursued a medley of jobs — including sock sales and making salt — while tinkering with recipes.

But it wasn't until he was in his 40s that ramen inspiration struck. Ando provided a mythical origin story for his middle-aged dabbling in food, as Karen Leibowitz explains at Gizmodo. In his biography, Ando claimed he was struck by inspiration when he saw people huddled around a ramen stall in postwar Osaka. With food shortages rampant, he believed noodles could cure world hunger.

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/5/8150929/momofuku-ando-ramen-instant-noodles