Inventor of the instant ramen noodle passes

Momofuku Ando, who founded the predecessor to the Nissin food products that we know today, and who invented the instant ramen nodle product passed away. He was 96 years old.

The first instant ramen product was the chicken flavor ramen, one of my favorite standby foods. The journey didn't end with a packet. The first of it's kind in 1958, the cup noodle (Cup o' Noodles as many people know it today) was introduced in 1971. Innovations have continued over the decades, introducing a myriad of flavors, sizes of carby sodium filled meals even up to today. In 2005 a special packet was developed so that they could be taken in to space and eaten aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

On this day of rememberance I'd like to share a ramen related recommendation.
If you enjoy a good bowl of ramen, happen to be in or near Yokohama, and don't want to traipse all over Japan to sample all the local specialties that can be found in the various regions might I suggest visiting the Raumen Museum in Shin-Yokohama. It's incredibly worth the price of admission. Upstairs there are exhibits, fun facts, and games. But the prize is downstairs. A small labyrinth of lines and ticket machines await hungry travellers in search of excellent ramen. Some of the best and most famous styles of Japanese ramen are represented in every style from Shio (salt) to Shoyu to Miso. I'm getting hungry just writing this. Go hungry, come out happy. There are lines at meal times, but they are pretty managable. The challenge is to sample a "mini bowl" from each shop and still have avoided your food coma long enough to make it back out to daylight.