Instant noodles, a fast-food food from Asia, have taken the world by storm. It's everywhere from China to Japan and South Korea to the United States and Europe.
In Korea, instant noodles have become a national delicacy.
According to statistics, in 2021, South Korea will consume 93 instant noodles per capita, and can eat 8 billion packs every year, far ahead of other countries in the world.
For us, instant noodles are at best an occasional meal replacement. Being able to eat two or three times a month is already a lot.
But the interesting thing is that the crazy popularity of instant noodles in South Korea is inextricably linked to the United States.
So why do Koreans love instant noodles, and what role does the United States play in this?
1. The history of instant noodles
Speaking of instant noodles, its invention can be traced back to 1958 in Japan.
At that time, Momofuku Ando, an honorary doctor from Ritsumeikan University in Japan, was working for a company in Osaka.
One day, he stumbled upon a small shop near the factory where the owner mixed boiled noodles with soup stock and sold them to the workers.
This scene inspired Momofuku Ando, who imagined that if noodles could be packaged with soup stock, it would be a very convenient food.
So Momofuku Ando began to study how to keep the noodles both mouthfelt and dry so that they could be stored for a long time.
After much trial and error, he finally succeeded in inventing the first instant noodle, Nissin Ramen, which was introduced to the market on August 25, 1958.
This instant noodle product is known for its convenience and quick cooking. It became an overnight hit in Japan and became a highly sought-after fast-food option.
The success of Nissin ramen laid the foundation for the rise of instant noodles.
This invention changed the traditional way of cooking, making food preparation and consumption simpler and faster.
With the popularity of instant noodles in Japan, it has also begun to go international and become one of the daily delicacies of many people around the world.
2. Why did the instant noodle army invade South Korea?
However, the popularity of instant noodles in Korea is not because of the influence of Japan, but because of the unexpected arrival of the United States.
What is the reason for this?
Back in the 60s, South Korea was in the grip of a severe food crisis.
The effects of extreme weather have led to a severe shortage of rice production, leaving people without enough to eat.
And the United States, as the main donor to South Korea after World War II, has not been idle.
The Americans, watching the hungry people in South Korea devour rice, thought to themselves, this is not going to work, the rice production is so low, why don't you just eat bread?
As a result, the United States began to dump a large amount of wheat into South Korea with strong measures, demanding that South Koreans change their eating habits of rice as the staple food.
The South Korean government was also at a loss for what to do, so it had no choice but to comply with the demands of the Americans and put forward a "mixed flour food encouragement campaign" to vigorously promote the benefits of eating bread products.
Even restaurants were forbidden to serve rice at certain times, and a hot wind of Westernized food revolution began to rage on the Korean Peninsula.
But things didn't go the way Americans had hoped.
Koreans have not fully embraced the Westernized diet, preferring to eat noodles instead of rice rather than bread because it is closer to Asian eating habits.
At this time, the Japanese also came to Korea, carrying the new snack of instant noodles in their hands.
Suddenly, the eyes of the Korean people lit up and they sighed: Wow, wait! This seems to be very good!
They were soon impressed by the convenience and inexpensiveness of instant noodles, and in order not to eat bread, Koreans began to make instant noodles from wheat.
So far, a frenzy of instant noodles has started in South Korea.
3. South Korea has entered the era of instant noodles
In 1963, South Korea's Samyang Food Company struck while the iron was hot and sent people to Nissin Co., Ltd. in Japan to introduce instant noodle technology, and later launched Korea's first instant noodle product, "Samyang Ramen".
Despite initial setbacks due to taste issues, instant noodles quickly gained a foothold in Korea.
The government has also been very supportive, and it has also advertised instant noodles as the "second most important rice".
In 1965, Xin Chunhao founded the Lotte Group and launched Lotte Ramen, which was renamed Nongshim Ramen in 1975.
In 1986, Nongshim launched Shin Ramen with a spicy Korean flavor.
In the seventies and eighties, benefiting from the exposure of major sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Nongshim's spicy ramen began to become an instant hit in South Korea.
Nowadays, in addition to Nongshim, which focuses on spicy flavors, there are dozens of instant noodle producers in South Korea, and the competition is fierce.
Instant noodles have gradually become one of the staple foods in South Korea from an alternative food, and Shin Ramen has become a label of daily life in Korea.
From Korean dramas to songs, instant noodles have long been deeply integrated into Korean pop culture.
Since then, the Korean instant noodle market has entered a fierce competition, and many brands have emerged, and instant noodles have completely become a staple food from an alternative food.
In this way, instant noodles, which should have been only used as a meal replacement food, have become the new staple food of Koreans.
To be honest, there is nothing wrong with this development, anyway, in the end, it is not that you have to get along with the Americans, and in the end you will eat back your own things.
Nowadays, instant noodles are deeply integrated into the Korean lifestyle, and Korean children who grew up eating Shin ramen have a very affectionate and nostalgic affection for it.
Eating instant noodles has become an indispensable part of Korean life, and it has also become a kind of youthful memory.
Fourth, the Korean mania for instant noodles
It's worth noting, however, that South Korea's craze for instant noodles seems a bit overblown.
According to statistics, in 2021, South Korea consumes 93 packs of instant noodles per capita, ranking first in the world, swallowing up to 8 billion packs a year!
So what is the reason for this instant noodle madness in Korea?
1. A short history, thin food
Korean food is one of the niches in the world. As a peninsular country, Korea has a short history and few ways to prepare food.
It is not fried and fried like in China, and there are dozens of kinds of light dishes, which are rich and colorful. This is also destined to have an objective reason for Koreans' preference for instant noodles.
When director Makoto Shinkai went to South Korea to promote the new film "Journey to Suzuya", the locals served him a table of instant noodles as a "state banquet" to entertain VIPs.
Koreans believe that instant noodles are the best delicacy for entertaining guests.
And when Xinhai Cheng was promoting in Beijing, he tasted the delicious hot pot worth 800 yuan, and said with deep feeling: Wow, this is the way of hospitality!
In fact, according to the Korean vision, when you only know instant noodles and don't know anything else, don't you think of instant noodles as a delicacy?
This is probably an important factor that causes Koreans to love instant noodles.
2. Small land, few resources
To some extent, whether a food can be popular or not depends largely on whether it has the advantage of "good quality and low price".
For China since the 90s, the instant noodle market has also exploded though.
But the bosses don't eat it as a meal either, as there are plenty of other foods to choose from.
For mainland people, instant noodles are just a meal replacement when they are busy, or they can eat them once in a while, and no one can eat instant noodles every day.
But Koreans almost eat instant noodles as a meal.
Because for Koreans, there really aren't many other options than instant noodles. South Korea is a peninsular country with a small land area and limited natural resources.
Food availability has long been a thorny issue.
South Korea mainly relies on imports to solve the supply of staple foods such as rice, and other vegetables, meat and other ingredients are not abundant.
In this case, instant noodles have undoubtedly become the best choice. It is inexpensive, high in calories, and easy to eat, which is fully in line with the advantages of good quality and low price.
For a country like South Korea, where food is relatively scarce, it's no surprise that instant noodles have become one of the staple foods.
There was once a Korean e-sports player who came to China to compete, and he deliberately stuffed his suitcase with instant noodles, for fear that he would have nothing to eat when he arrived in China.
It can be seen that instant noodles may really be the best food in their minds.
For a long time, due to resource constraints, South Koreans had limited access to a limited variety of foods, and food shortages were common.
As an affordable and quick energy supplement, instant noodles have naturally become an important staple food source for them.
Therefore, the scarcity of supplies and limited choices have jointly promoted the crazy popularity of instant noodles in Korea.
Through bickering, cultural interpenetration, poor cuisines, and limited food options have all contributed to the development of Koreans' craze for instant noodles.
Instant noodles have grown up with generations of Koreans, and this food has naturally become a favorite delicacy of Koreans.
And in Korea, instant noodles have developed to the point that you can see corresponding self-service instant noodle shops on the street.
There are different flavors of instant noodles and side dishes inside, which is convenient for people to choose from, and then make a instant noodles, and the courseware Korean instant noodles as a staple food have really penetrated into their hearts.
epilogue
It is against the backdrop of fighting against Westernized diets and seeking alternative staple foods that instant noodles, which should have been just meal replacements, have unexpectedly become the new staple food of Koreans.
And eventually became deeply rooted in the land, becoming a unique way of life and cultural symbol.
Despite the twists and turns in the trajectory, the results have undoubtedly brought tangible benefits to Koreans, who are able to eat well.
The Korean people's love for it has become a cultural symbol unique to Korea.
Well, today's article is shared here, if you still have different views and suggestions, please leave a message in the comment area, thank you for reading, and we'll see you next time.