More than 100 billion servings were slurped up around the world last year.

去年全世界吸掉了超過 1000 億份泡麵。

That's more than 13 servings for every person on the planet.

這是比地球上每人吃 13 份還多的量。

So, you've almost certainly eaten them, but have you ever thought about why they seem to be everywhere?

所以，你一定吃過它們，但你有沒有曾經思考過，為什麼感覺泡麵到處都有呢？

Instant noodles are one of the world's most successful industrial foods.

泡麵是世界上最成功的工業化食品。

They're cheap to make, and cheap to buy, making them a global phenomenon.

它們製作成本低，購買價格也低，因此使他們為全球之風靡。

They've been eaten at the top of Everest.

它們在聖母峰上被享用。

Astronauts have carried them into space.

太空人帶過他們上太空。

And they've even become the most traded legal item in U.S. prisons.

它們甚至成為美國監獄內被交易最多的合法產品。

More about that later.

我們等等再聊這件事。

So how did this simple but revolutionary food come about?

所以這種簡單卻又劃時代的食物是從哪來的呢？

Let's go back to Japan, just after the Second World War.

讓我們回到二戰剛結束的日本。

Large parts had been destroyed by bombing.

大部分地區被炸彈摧毀。

Much of the population was going hungry.

很大部分的人民正在挨餓。

A feisty entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, was penniless after a failed business venture.

一位果決的企業家，安藤百福，因一次失敗的商業投資變得一貧如洗。

He wanted to reinvent himself.

他想要東山再起。

And he had an idea, when he spotted long lines of Japanese people shivering in the cold waiting for a hot bowl of traditional ramen noodles.

而他在看到日本民眾在寒風中顫抖著等待一碗傳統日式拉麵後，有了一個想法。

Ando knew the Japanese government was looking for ways to encourage its people to eat the food aid given to Japan by the US government—oil and wheat flour.

安藤知道日本政府正在想辦法讓人民食用美國給日本的糧食救濟，分別是油和麵粉。

So he disappeared into a wooden hut in his back garden for a year.

因此他藏身於後花園的小木屋中長達一年。

And when he emerged, he'd created instant noodles.

當他再次出現，他已經發明了泡麵。

They were instantly popular.

它們在瞬間爆紅。

And they fueled Japan's modern economic rise, feeding students and also hungry workers.

它們使日本現代經濟起飛如虎添翼，也餵飽了學生和飢餓的勞動者。

They soon caught on elsewhere, maybe because they're the ultimate hot blank slate.

它們之後在其他地方也引起熱潮，或許是因為它們是一個終極嶄新的領域。

They can be adapted to fit anyone's taste buds.

它們可以輕易滿足任何人的味蕾。

In Thailand, green curry flavour's a hit.

在泰國，綠咖喱口味大受歡迎。

In Mexico, they're eaten with limes and salsa.

在墨西哥，人們將泡麵陪著萊姆還有莎莎醬吃。

In Japan, you can try chicken nugget-and-fries-flavoured noodles.

在日本，你可以嚐到炸雞塊和薯條口味的泡麵。

Or in Pakistan, pizza flavour.

又或者在巴基斯坦，有比薩口味。

Environmentalists aren't so happy about the noodles' seemingly endless spread.

環保主義者們對於泡麵似乎永無止盡的蔓延感到不太開心。

They're made with palm oil, which contributes to deforestation in countries like Indonesia, and most noodles come with lots of plastic packaging.

泡麵是用棕櫚油做的，而棕櫚油導致國家如印尼遭去森林化，且大部分泡麵都有很多塑料包裝。

But quick foods like instant noodles are lifesavers in emergency situations, like earthquakes, or for anyone who needs the comfort of a hot meal without access to a kitchen.

但是這樣快速的食物如泡麵是緊急狀況發生時的救星，例如地震，或任何人需要用一碗熱食來慰藉自己時，無需至廚房開火。

Shrinking prison food budgets in the U.S. mean that prisoners are turning to instant noodles, the cheapest item on sale in prison stores, to fill their stomachs.

美國監獄對於食物預算的減縮使犯人們開始吃泡麵來填飽自己，而泡麵是監獄裡的商店中最便宜的物品。

They're also getting creative, grinding down noodles and water into a paste that can be shaped into makeshift pizza bases.

犯人們也發揮創意，將麵體搗碎之後加水變成麵團，使其變成比薩的餅皮。

Using crushed ramen, prisoners make their own versions of burritos, sandwiches, even a dish called "Coke ramen," made with instant noodles and, you guessed it, Coca Cola.

用搗碎的拉麵，犯人們做出了屬於他們獨特版本的墨西哥捲、三明治，甚至是一道稱為「可樂拉麵」的料理，是泡麵和，對你沒猜錯，可口可樂所製成。

And of course, cup noodles are responsible for powering millions and millions of late-night study sessions.

當然，杯面也成為數以百萬計的熬夜子女們挑燈夜戰時的精神來源。

From a hut in Japan to grocery stores around the world, they may only take two minutes to spring into action, but next time you're cooking them, think about the eternal life of the instant noodle.

從日本的小木屋到全世界的超市，它們雖然只要兩分鐘就可以吃了，但下次你要泡來吃時，想想泡麵深遠的來由故事。

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謝謝收看！

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不要忘記訂閱我們頻道，還有開啟小鈴鐺來接受新影片上架時的通知！

See you again soon!

我們下次再見！