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Feb 2023
30m 3s

Instant Noodles

History Hit
About this episode

In the year 2000 Japan was asked what its greatest invention of the twentieth century was. They had a LOT to choose from. The Walkman. The bullet train. Digital Cameras. Pokemon. But the winner was Instant Noodles.


Today Dallas learns about Momofuku Ando, the inventor-cum-tax-evader who invented instant noodles. Listen to Dallas’s chat with Barak Kushner, author of “Slurp! A Social and Culinary History of Ramen”, to discover:


Who invented the original ramen dish that these noodles are based on;


What America’s preparation for a land-invasion of Japan in WWII has to do with the story;


and Dallas’s recipe for a curry Pot Noodle sandwich!!!


Produced by Freddy Chick, edited by Anisha Deva, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long


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