第1773期:The history of instant noodles

What do a student in China, an office worker in the UK and an astronaut in space all have in common? They all eat instant noodles. And they're not alone – over 100 billion servings of instant noodles are consumed globally each year, making them one of the world's most successful industrial foods. But how did this happen?

中国的学生、英国的上班族和太空中的宇航员有什么共同点？他们都吃方便面。他们并不孤单——全球每年消费超过 1000 亿份方便面，使其成为世界上最成功的工业食品之一。但这是怎么发生的呢？

Put simply, they're cheap to produce and cheap to buy, which was exactly what their creator intended. Momofuku Ando, a Japanese entrepreneur, spent a year perfecting the recipe just after the Second World War. He wanted to make something similar to traditional Japanese ramen noodles, while using the wheat flour given to Japan as food aid by the US government. His creation was instantly popular, playing a part in Japan's post-war economic rise. Even in the year 2000 – according to a poll by the Fuji Research Institute – instant noodles were voted Japan's most successful invention, ahead of high-speed trains, laptops and karaoke.

简而言之，它们生产成本低，购买成本低，这正是它们的创造者的意图。二战刚结束，日本企业家安藤百福花了一年时间完善配方。他想做一些类似于传统日本拉面的东西，同时使用美国政府作为粮食援助提供给日本的小麦粉。他的创作立即受到欢迎，在日本战后经济崛起中发挥了重要作用。即使在 2000 年——根据富士研究所的一项民意调查——方便面被评为日本最成功的发明，领先于高铁、笔记本电脑和卡拉 OK。

But Japanese people are not alone in their devotion to instant noodles. According to the World's Instant Noodles Association, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and India – in that order – all consumed more instant noodles than Japan in 2021. Instant noodles' popularity abroad is in part due to how easy they are to adapt to local tastes. In Thailand, for example, you can get green curry flavour, while in Mexico the noodles are garnished with lime and salsa. And it seems that consumers have grown to expect innovation. Nissin, the food company founded by Ando, launches over 300 products yearly, just in Japan, according to employee Kasura Suzuki.

但是日本人并不是唯一热爱方便面的人。根据世界方便面协会的数据，到 2021 年，中国、印度尼西亚、越南和印度的方便面消费量依次超过日本。方便面在国外受欢迎的部分原因是它们很容易适应当地口味。例如，在泰国，您可以获得绿咖喱口味，而在墨西哥，面条则点缀着酸橙和莎莎酱。消费者似乎已经开始期待创新。据员工 Kasura Suzuki 称，由 Ando 创立的食品公司 Nissin 每年仅在日本推出 300 多种产品。

Instant noodles have their critics, too. Their rise in popularity has come at an environmental cost – they're made with palm oil, contributing to deforestation, and their packaging is plastic. And while they are a hot, tasty and filling meal, instant noodles don't have much nutritional value, and include high levels of salt and fat. Nevertheless, instant noodles are undoubtedly lifesavers in emergency or extreme situations. More than 60 years after their invention, instant noodles have become the default food for anyone short on money, time, or even a kitchen.

方便面也有批评者。它们的流行是以环境为代价的——它们是用棕榈油制成的，导致森林砍伐，而且它们的包装是塑料的。虽然方便面是一道热腾腾、美味可口的大餐，但它并没有太多的营养价值，而且含有大量的盐分和脂肪。尽管如此，方便面无疑是紧急或极端情况下的救命稻草。在发明 60 多年后，方便面已成为任何缺钱、缺时间甚至缺厨房的人的默认食物。

serving （供一人食用的）一份
consume （大量地）吃，吃掉
industrial foods 工业化食品，经大规模生产和加工制成的食品
creator 发明者
wheat flour 小麦粉
food aid 食品援助
creation 创造物
economic rise 经济增长
invention 发明
devotion to 对…的热爱、热衷
adapt 改变以适应
taste (n) 口味
green curry flavour 青咖喱口味
garnish with 在（食物）上加（饰菜）
salsa 萨尔萨辣酱（洋葱、番茄和辣椒制成的辣味调汁）
consumer 消费者
innovation 创新
launch 推出
come at a cost 有代价的
palm oil 棕榈油
filling 容易填饱肚子的
nutritional value 营养价值
lifesaver 救星，能救急的事物
default 首选，默认的选择