Momofuku Ando’s invention of the instant noodle had a classic discovery-by-accident moment. Just after World War II, Ando was a failed businessman experimenting at home with a newfangled idea for packaged ramen noodles.
He remained an unsuccessful tinkerer until August, 1958, when he made a breakthrough while watching his wife deep-fry vegetables. Fried noodles, he realized, would turn hard yet be porous enough to soften quickly when dunked in boiling water.
That epiphany transformed Ando, who died on Jan. 5 from a heart attack at age 96, into the noodle king. More than anyone else, Ando deserves credit for creating the multibillion-dollar market for instant noodles.
“A lot of people say it was a late start, but in life there’s no such thing,” Ando wrote in his memoir.
Photo by Associated Press.
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