About 95 billion packs of ramen instant noodles are eaten every year. That's enough for every college student in the United States to eat about 13 packs a day every day for a year. China consumes the most instant noodles of any country — almost half of the world's total — followed by Indonesia, which consumes about 14 billion packs a year. South Koreans eat the most instant noodles per person, at about 70 packs per person per year.
More facts about instant noodles:
- Though Americans tend to associate ramen with only four flavors — beef, chicken, shrimp and oriental — there are thousands of varieties of ramen, many of them made with tasty additions. For instance, in China, instant noodles are often served with vegetables or sliced pork.
- Ramen is considered to be a quintessential Japanese food, but it originated in China. The name is thought to come from the Chinese la mian, which means "pulled noodles."
- The world's most expensive bowl of ramen is the Five-Taste Blend Imperial Noodles dish at the Fujimaki Gekijyo restaurant in Tokyo. The spicy version includes more than 20 gourmet ingredients and costs more than $100 US Dollars (USD).
Follow wiseGEEK
More Info: www.mentalfloss.com
Discussion Comments
Though I've never heard of the Five-Taste Blend Imperial Noodles dish, it certainly sounds interesting. Also, what are the twenty gourmet ingredients, and is it really worth one hundred dollars? I don't know if I'll be visiting Tokyo anytime soon, but that was a nice little tidbit.
@Chmander - As you said, college students normally don't have a lot of money. Not to mention that the parents are usually their source of income.
Reading this short article, I didn't known that there were so many varieties of ramen. Going off of this, I'm also assuming that in China, instant noodles are a lot healthier than in America, where we always use the flavored powder as a supplement. Vegetables and sliced pork are a much better choice.
Has anyone noticed that college students tend to eat ramen noodles quite a bit? When I was on college campus last year, I would always hear talks about eating noodle for dinner when there's nothing better to do. I find it quite funny actually. They spend so much money on college, and yet they don't have enough left to afford decent meals.
Post your comments