When I worked in a Canberra ad agency in the late 1990s, one of the young designers had a passion for instant noodles. There was speculation that he ate nothing else, to the point where some of his workmates were afraid he would develop scurvy. He sought out various brands and began attaching the packs to the wall, one above the other, creating what we called “Tim’s noodle tower”. As the office was in a warehouse-style building with very high ceilings, he eventually needed a very long pole to attach new varieties at the top. While most of us don’t have the same obsession with instant noodles, there’s no denying their convenience and universal appeal, especially to children (of all ages).

For the familiar compressed block of instant noodles, we can thank businessman, Momofuku Ando, who founded a small food company Nissin Foods, originally to sell salt.  In response to food shortages in Japan after World War II, Ando developed a process of flash-frying the noodles and consolidating them into a block, requiring only the addition of hot water to supply a simple meal. The first variety he brought to market in 1958 was called Chickin Ramen. Ando went on to develop cup noodles in 1971. His work is celebrated in Japan where there are even cup noodle museums in Yokohama and Osaka. In a year 2000 poll, the Japanese voted instant noodles the best invention of the 20th century.

It’s not clear when the first instant noodles became available in Australia. As late as 1977, The Age’s Epicure page was directing would-be purchasers to specialty Asian stores. Then, in 1979, Maggi 2-Minute Noodles took instant noodles out of those specialty shops and into the supermarket. Maggi has a history dating back to the 1880s in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi created his first powdered soup. Other products followed including bouillon cubes and sauces. Nestlé bought the company in 1947 and by 1951 were selling their range of dried packaged soups in Australia. Noodles came later.

Initially comprising three flavours – chicken, beef and prawn – the Maggi 2-Minute Noodles range has since been expanded and varied to include other varieties such as Vegemite (released in 2024), oriental and spicy chicken. The accent here is on the word ‘flavour’ – when you look at the list of ingredients you won’t find any chicken or beef. Instead, the beef flavour sachet contains: Mineral Salt (Potassium Chloride), Salt, Flavour Enhancers (621, 635), Sugar, Yeast Extract, Flavour, Burnt Sugar, Vegetable Fat [Antioxidant (320)], Onion, Soy Sauce Powder ( Wheat, Soy ), Food Acid (Citric), White Pepper, Rosemary. Contains Gluten, Wheat, Soy. A health food it’s not, although in 2016 Maggi did introduce some “healthier” versions, removing some of the salt and preservatives and adding what it called “invisible wholegrain”.

The Maggi instant noodles are made in Malaysia. There is now a plethora of other brands available in Australia, including in the Asian section of supermarkets. Few are made in Australia. Mostly they come from Indonesia, Thailand or South Korea.

Instant ramen, with its salty flavour sachets, is but a poor shadow of the actual dish, which consists of a flavourful broth, a sauce component known as tare, wheat noodles, and toppings such as meat or vegetables. Ramen restaurants began to appear in Australia in the 1980s, among the first being Goshu Ramen Tei in York Street Sydney which was operating by 1984 (and is still going, albeit under different ownership). Now ramen restaurants are an integral part of the Aussie culinary scene.  But, perhaps driven by the cost of living crisis, we currently consume around half a million servings of the instant variety every year.