But instant ramen wasn't created for a bunch of hungry 20 year olds.

但速食拉麵可不是為了那些飢腸轆轆的 20 歲小夥子們發明的。

The man who invented them was much more ambitious.

發明速食拉麵的人可是懷著雄心壯志。

He set out to solve a hunger crisis in Japan.

他決定著手解決日本的飢荒危機。

After World War II, food shortages plagued Japanese cities, so the U.S. supplied wheat flour and encouraged the Japanese to make bread.

二戰後的食物短缺肆虐日本，所以美國就提供小麥麵粉，好讓那些日本人可以用來做麵包。

One man named Momofuku Ando didn't understand why his people would make bread instead of noodles, something that was already part of their culture.

這時，安藤百福卻不懂為何大家要拿麵粉來做麵包，而不拿來做成日本文化中已經有的麵條。

Ando decided to take matters into his own hands and create a new ramen made to last.

安藤決定親自出馬，嘗試做出能夠保存的拉麵。

He spent a year trying to figure out how to preserve the noodles.

他花了一年研究如何保存麵條。

He needed a nonperishable, tasty, and easy recipe.

他需要的是不易壞、美味又簡單的配方。

But it was a challenge to maintain the robust flavors and unique texture that most people were accustomed to.

但要讓麵條保有大眾所習慣的濃郁香氣和獨特口感是個很艱難的挑戰。

It wasn't until his wife was making dinner one night and he threw some noodles in a bowl of hot tempura oil that he realized flash frying the noodles was the answer he had been looking for.

直到有天晚上他的太太在做晚餐，他將一些麵丟進炸天婦羅的油鍋裡後，他才發現原來「將麵條快速油炸」就是他一直以來在尋找的方法。

This method not only dehydrated them, it left small perforations that allowed the noodles to recook quickly.

油炸不僅可以讓麵條脫水，麵條與麵條間的孔洞還可以讓它的烹煮時間更短。

And there you have it, instant ramen noodles became an instant success.

於是泡麵就誕生了！速食拉麵就這樣一夜成名、深獲喜愛。

Ando's products gained notoriety when he introduced the packaged ramen in the 1950s and later Cup Noodles in 1978.

安藤在 1950 年代販售袋裝泡麵， 1978 年又推出了杯麵，兩項產品都廣為大眾討論。

His company began selling upwards of 40 billion units every year, and Momofuku Ando became a culinary icon in Japan.

公司每年的拉麵銷售量達到四百億包，而安藤百福也晉升為日本料理界的偶像。

So, the next time you heat up a cup of instant noodles, remember, you're slurping down a little piece of history.

所以下次當你在煮速食拉麵時，別忘了你其實也在品嚐歷史的一部分。

(lively instrumental music)

(輕快的純音樂)