nissin chikin ramen: chikin or the egg?

by rameniac | 27 Jan 2007

Human ingenuity is an amazing and terrible thing. Mankind has cured polio, flown like birds, and set foot on the moon. We’ve also devised the means to wipe out all life as we know it - several times over - and used that power against people who gave us spicy miso champon, proof positive that if God exists, He’s as likely to watch American Idol as He is to extend a benevolent hand into our middling affairs.

We kill each other daily, and yet, on rare occasions (the day Momofuku Ando perfected flash frying comes to mind) we bestow upon the world a gift by which civilization is irrevocably changed for the better. It is ironic that “Chikin Ramen” sprung forth from the ashes of nuclear war. Dire times test our mettle, and hunger is our greatest malaise.

Nissin Chikin Ramen, the first ever instant noodle, has been around since 1958. A billion dollar industry was hatched from Ando-san’s invention. Like Coca-Cola, I’m really not sure how much the product has changed over the course of the last half-century. Chikin Ramen has certainly been improved upon by others. But that it is still being made and sold today is a miracle in and of itself.

Had I a time machine, I could travel back fifty years and get some answers. Was it a design masterpiece, then as it is now? Out of the package, Chikin Ramen is a perfectly rounded cake of dried noodles (and “cake” is indeed a fitting description) with a hollow for nesting and poaching a raw egg. It’s pre-seasoned for convenience - no satchets needed. Just add boiling water, cover and wait three minutes, and enjoy.

It tastes pretty much as you would expect - a light, only vaguely “chickenesque” soup that might well be the precursor to “Oriental Flavor” Top Ramen. Curly ribbons of noodles that stop absorbing liquid after they’ve fully actualized, so as to maintain springiness even if you let the bowl sit for a while. The egg poaches, but only if your boiling water is bubbling (I made the mistake this time of adding hot water from a hot water dispenser, which was not nearly hot enough).

To be honest, a humble but groundbreaking product like this can’t really be “rated.” I’ll give it two naruto out of five, if you really want a reference. There are hundreds of more spectacular varieties of instant ramen on the market at this very moment, but they all owe a great debt to Momofuku Ando and this very product - a decent, satisfying snack devised by an enterprising man with noble intentions. Japan considers instant noodles its greatest contribution to the world. Who am I to argue?