If I had a million dollars

[austin_dern]

According to the news, Momofuku Ando, the Japanese inventor of instant noodles, has died. It somehow seems like there should be a tasteless joke to make about that, and I didn't mean to even write it like that, although I am letting it stand. He started the Nissin Food Products Company in 1948, with Japan still suffering postwar food shortages and turned it into something that could feed many people cheaply.

I was never a big Ramen noodle fan, even as a college student. As an undergraduate I had the dining plan anyway and could have altogether too much spaghetti (the standard Sunday night fare through Junior and Senior years) and, so, not need to eat anything more. And as a graduate student there were some stretches where I was short on cash, but I would more likely save up for a Hamburger Helper-type meal that would keep me full the rest of the day instead of falling back on ramen, or spaghetti, which I'd had enough of. In Singapore they served actual fresh hot made-on-the-spot ramen noodles with abundant ingredients and tasting impressively good, but if I was at a hawker center or a mall food court where ramen was available, there were also many other things available, and I'd gravitate towards that instead.

Still, it's not as if I particularly disliked instant noodles, just that I like other things more. And according to the article I read about his death there's a Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, opened 1999 in Ikeda City in western Japan, and I'd like to see that. But then, who wouldn't?

While looking around on the Barnes and Noble web site for things I might buy, I stumbled across a books-on-tape collection of Robert Benchley essays as read by Henry Morgan (the old-time radio comedian, not the really crazy general from M*A*S*H who also did some other part on it). Henry Morgan had a naturally slightly more sarcastic style (``Eversharp razors -- they're educational. Try one. That'll teach you.'') than Robert Benchley had, but he also had a very naturally funny voice, and that makes for a compelling combination of my hobbies. But the online store didn't have any copies in stock, leading me to suspect they list it just to tease potential buyers.

Trivia: Caroline Herschel was a harpsichord player and singer before becoming an astronomer. Source: Planets Beyond: Discovering the Outer Solar System, Mark Littmann.

Currently Reading: The Essence of Style, Joan DeJean.

Comments

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Instant ramen is one of those things that subtly changed the world. It's not just cheap - it's also fast. When I was a child there just wasn't anything hot that you could make in a few minutes, apart from hotdogs on a mains cooker*. I like the stuff too - I've got several packages in my cabinet right now.

I ate a Nissin "Souper Meal" in the fellow's honour Saturday. It's ramen and dessicated vegetables in a big cardboard tub.




* We used to have a commercially made mains cooker, IIRC made by Hamilton Beach. I so wish I still had that thing. It would cause insurance adjustors to have heart attacks from a mile away.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Here's the mains cooker, in all its glory (http://www.neighborhoodvalues.com/nv/kitchen/misc/35kc.htm). Ours was like this, except black instead of red. Made by Presto instead of Hamilton Beach.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

There you go. We didn't have any things like that, but after about age six or seven we were trusted to use the stove when appropriate for things like heating water and such. We were also expected to do our own laundry. We've gotten back at our parents by being the ones who actually understand how the VCR and DVD are set up.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

I was taught to cook fairly early on, which has been a great benefit to me. You don't really appreciate what an advantage it is until you've had a roommate whose culinary competence is restricted to frozen foods and hamburger helper.

For some reason I was never trusted to do the laundry. Dunno why. I did get to run the lawnmower, though.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Lawnmower we got from about ... oh ... I think age 12 or 13. Pushing to start, and then we moved up to a riding lawnmower when Dad finally got tired of the half-acre backyard. Earned enough money one summer for my Commodore 1541 clone disk drive.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

It's amazing how many LJ posts have mentioned this guy... He's almost as popular as Steve Irwin ^V^

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, surprising, isn't it? He's suddenly all over. Even made WCBS-AM News Radio 88 tonight.

[c-eagle.livejournal.com]

heheheh.. and he made our news AGAIN today!!
Wow.. well, I like the stuff too, ..but I've cut it way back in my diet, after learning how much salt iz innit... :D

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh, just eat around the salt; that's easy enough. It's the white crystal parts.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Oh, I enjoyed a good package of Ramen now and then, especially in high school and college; it was simple enough to cook and properly salty to satisfy my palate. Post-college I graduated from the 15-cents (8 for a dollar) packs to the dollar-a-serving bowls with genuine dehydrated vegetables and those spirally thingies that might be some kind of fish.

One day I would like to eat good fresh ramen, indeed.

--Chiaroscuro

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I could point out a couple of pretty good places in Singapore, should you ever find yourself there. Funan the IT Mall has a couple, only one of which spaceroo and I got horribly sick after eating at.