Early this year Momofuku Ando, the Japanese inventor of instant noodles died at the age of 96.  He founded Nissin Food Products Co.  1948.   Faced with food shortages in post World War II Japan, Ando developed the idea that a quality, convenient noodle product would help feed the masses.

 Little did he know then that ramen would become popular the world over with young and old alike.

In 1958, "Chicken Ramen," the first instant noodle product, was introduced after many trials. Following its success, the company continued to add innovative products, including "Cup Noodle" in 1971.  The company's products went into space when Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi took instant noodles in a pouch called "Space Ram" on his 2005 mission on board the U.S. space shuttle Discovery.  Ando was a keen promoter of developing food for space travel.

 Many college students literally "live" on a diet of ramen noodles as they are so easy to make.  However, ramen noodles unfortunately are not a healthy choice. Each package contains about 1560 mg of sodium, or almost 100% of your daily requirement. In the manufacturing of ramen noodles-to remove the water and form them into blocks, they are deep fried in palm oil which is about the most saturated fat there is. Each package of ramen contains approximately 400 calories, 8 grams of protein, 56 grams of carbs, 2 grams of fiber, over 15 grams of total fat and 6 or more grams of saturated fat.

Look in your local Asian food store, though,  and you may find some that are baked or freeze dried without the oil. Check the ingredients--about 720 different varieties/flavors of ramen are available. For what it's worth, the average Japanese eats about 45 packages a year and, other than sumo wrestlers, ain't too many of them chubby.

 We also love the Maggi brand from India in such flavours as Chapata or Curry.  Great taste but of course they are fried.  Another healthier choice would be the rice noodles type of soup packets usually from Thailand which are not fried.

 I recently discovered a non-fried ramen noodle being made under the Noodle King brand manufactured in Hong Kong.  Thy have many flavours.  I especially like the scallop flavour and also the Lobster flavour.

 http://www.sunshunfuk.com.hk/eng/product_1.html

There are so many things you can do with these noodle packets.  I often cook up veggies and drop in a beaten egg in them for a complete meal in a bowl.  You can make crazy things like a cabbage-ramen salad.

 For an in depth review of the major ramens:

 http://math.ucsd.edu/~dwildstr/reviews/noodles/noodle-ratings.html

 and for a fun video Even a Monkey Can Make Noodles

 http://www.ramenramenramen.net/

 …first of all, this is a chimp, not a monkey, and second, he’s making udon, not ramen but it is cute!