Are you one of the many fans of instant noodles? Known here in Brazil, mainly by the Nissin Miojo brand, lamen type pasta (or ramen) currently serves as a raw material to create sandwiches and even donuts.

Fast, easy, but not a primacy of gastronomy, instant noodles are the salvation of many students who go to live alone and have to turn around to eat cheaply, who is in a hurry or who does not have the least way in kitchen.

If you are part of this class, check out 7 things about this food that you may not know:

1 - The first instant noodles was considered a luxury item

Although today the brand is considered a cheap item in the past, it used to be very expensive in Japan.

Momofuku Ando, the creator of ramen Nissin products, invented "Chicken Ramen," an instant noodle-based snack that could be easily and everywhere eaten in 1958 when he noticed that food was scarce after World War II World.

But when the product arrived on the shelves of Japanese supermarkets, it was seen as very expensive, as fresh noodles were sold for about 1/6 the price of Nissin.

2 - It is the best selling item in a North American prison The Commissioner of the Rikers Island Prison in New York must always make sure that the Cup Noodles stock is complete on the spot. The product is sold in the prison for 35 cents and, according to the New York Post, is the most popular food there.

The guards supply hot water to the prisoners so they can prepare their noodle cups. But sometimes the prisoners discard the pasta and use the seasoning packets to add flavor to the impractical food in prison.

3 - Only some flavors are, in fact, vegetarian

It may be hard to believe that packets of spices from the noodles taste chicken or meat actually contain substances of animal origin, but they do. According to The Huffington Post, the flavored chicken (from American Nissin) includes dehydrated chicken fat, in the same way that beef flavor also has bovine fat powder.

4. China eats instant noodles more than any other country. Despite being a Japanese invention, China's global demand for instant noodles is the highest in the world, according to the World Noodle Association (yes, it does!). By 2013, China consumed more than 46 billion packages of noodles. The Chinese brand Tong-Yi is sold almost everywhere in the country, from large hypermarkets to street stalls.

5 - According to a survey, the Japanese consider the lammen as the best invention of them

In addition to all the technology that Japan provided to the planet in 2000, the Fuji Research Institute stated that the Japanese are very proud to introduce instant noodles to the world. "They feel that way because instant noodles really represent the legitimate 'Made in Japan', not only because it is a national but a global food," the Institute said in a statement at the time.

6 - There is a museum in Japan dedicated to Cup Noodles The so-called Cup Noodles Museum is dedicated to Momofuku Ando's product and mind history. The museum features a mini-factory, where visitors can make their own mixtures of lamen, among other attractions.

7 - Instant noodles in space Ando Momofuku wanted to make a practical and easy to eat pasta not only on the ground but also in space and he achieved in 2005.

Two years before his death, Ando created "Space Ram," vacuum-packed noodles made into very small pieces (so they could be prepared without the use of boiling water) and a thicker broth (to avoid dispersion). The product was made especially for the voyage of Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on the Space Shuttle Discovery.

SOURCE (S) THE HUFFINGTON POST

IMAGE (S) THE HUFFINGTON POST SHUTTERSTOCK

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