Momofuku Ando is a national hero in Japan, for helping to end a national food shortage after World War II. He did this by … inventing instant ramen. He created the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.
At the time, the United States was providing wheat flour to Japan to prevent widespread famine. The Japanese government tried to encourage its people to make the wheat flour into wheat bread, but that was unfamiliar to pretty much all Japanese at the time, and many went hungry instead. Ando thought noodles made more sense. Noodles were familiar, could be made using wheat instead of rice flour, and could be easily made at home using only hot water. After months of trial and error, he debuted the first instant noodles: Chikin Ramen. And the rest is history!
