Instant (Maggi) Noodles!

Instant noodles, or what us Indians like to call "Maggi", no matter what the brand is, is an invariable evening snack for most us. Maggi has been going on in India for decades now! It has gained such hold over the Indian market and minds! It's so popular with all generations because kids like the taste and adults like the nostalgia of it. The distinct flavor of that "masala" cannot be replicated, much like the Coca-Cola recipe (neither Nestle, nor Coca-Cola are sponsoring this, but they could).

Instant noodles/ramen are a staple with college students, or those who live alone and are young enough to feel invincible, no matter what they subject their bodies to. Mostly because, as the name suggests, they're instant and require zero effort. In fact, I can go as far as saying that this food is bliss for people who hate cooking and aren't too enthusiastic about food, because it's cheap, provides basic sustenance and the cooking time is a whole 2 minutes.

This dish was invented by a Taiwanese born Japanese man, Momofuku Ando, in 1941. There are two versions of the backstory of this invention. Both are during WWII. The first goes like this: the Japanese troops needed food that lasts for a long time, can be cooked fast and without hassle. After some research and development, they found out that frying cooked ramen noodles gave it extra shelf life and made them easy to carry. They also found out that, after boiling those fried noodles, it tasted almost the same as original ramen. This is how instant ramen became the staple of Japanese troops. The second version is similar, but instead of troops, it was civilians. During the war, many Eastern Asian countries like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan faced shortages of food. During that period, America had exported wheat to these countries. In order to make durable, cheap food that sustains a population for a long time, instant ramen was invented.

Although Instant noodles were invented in 1941, they gained popularity well after the war was over, in 1958. Invented as a necessity, now these noodles, or the whole instant ramen industry has gained such traction all over the world! It's not even possible for anyone to imagine what a world without instant ramen, or what I like to call Maggi, would be! (a dystopian nightmare for sure)

Some brands follow the old method, where raw noodles are cooked, fried and then packaged, but most brands follow a healthier (more convenient) approach. Instead of frying, they dehydrate the noodles. When I say healthy, I mean relatively healthy. These noodles are made completely of refined flour and fat, not to mention the taste maker that's packed with salt and MSG (the King of flavor, according to my favorite uncle, Roger). Even if eating ramen every day can provide basic sustenance, can sound enticing, and make you feel young/invulnerable, it is like inviting a heart attack in your 40s. All the unhealthy food you put in your body (ingest) comes back to bite you in the posterior later. So, be careful about what you eat, and as everyone says, treat your body like a temple.

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