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Top Ramen

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Top Ramen
Chicken flavor packages of Top Ramen
Produced byNissin Foods
CountryUnited States
Introduced1970
MarketsInstant noodle

Top Ramen (トップラーメン, Toppu rāmen) is an American brand of instant ramen noodles introduced in 1970 by Nissin Foods.[1]: 163 

History

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Top Ramen cooking

Instant noodles were invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-born founder of the Japanese food company Nissin. He used Chicken Ramen as the first brand of instant ramen noodles.[2]

By the late 1960s, Ando desired to enter the US markets, but discovered that most people in the United States did not have ramen-sized bowls or chopsticks. During a business trip to the US, he observed a grocery store manager prepare ramen by placing the block of noodles in a paper cup and pouring boiling water over them, inspiring him to develop the Cup Noodles brand.[2][3] In 1970, Nissin formed a US subsidiary, and opened their first factory in the US in 1973 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[4] Top Ramen became a major corporate force in the international noodle market which was dominated by Maggi.[5]: 27 

Reputation

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Despite ramen being stereotyped as a "poverty food" which makes up the bulk of a typical US college student's diet,[6][7] Top Ramen was considered an expensive luxury item when it was initially released.[2] In 1958, it sold for ¥35 (US$0.32), which was comparable to the cost of eating Chinese noodles at a restaurant[8] and several times more than the price of udon noodles at the grocery store. At first many stores were skeptical of Top Ramen's potential to succeed and hesitant to stock it, but by end of the year the product was ubiquitous and stores had difficulty keeping pace with the demand.[3]

Food reviewers' opinions of Top Ramen vary widely, from The Ramen Rater rating the noodles alone 3.25/5 stars and 5/5 stars with some turkey and an egg added,[9] to Douglas Kim, the owner and chef of Jeju Noodle Bar, describing it as tasting "commercial" and "very instant" and rating it 1/5 stars.[10] Andy Kryza of Thrillist ranked Top Ramen as the fourth best instant noodle brand, particularly appreciating its "overpowering beefy/salty suckerpunch," although he said that eating it while sober "doesn't seem right."[11] Consumer Reviews criticized Top Ramen's "bland broth and too-soft, almost mushy, noodles," but rated Cup Noodles more favorably, noting that "the food bits are so well done that we can overlook the subpar noodles."[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Solt, George (February 22, 2014). The Untold History of Ramen: How Political Crisis in Japan Spawned a Global Food Craze. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95837-1. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c The Ramen Rater (April 13, 2012). "Everything You Wanted to Know About Top Ramen and Cup Noodles". Serious Eats. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Our Founder". Nissin Foods. n.d. Archived from the original on November 8, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  4. ^ Freedman, Alisa (December 8, 2021). "How Cup Noodles became one of the biggest transpacific business success stories of all time". The Conversation. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Baisya, Rajat K. (30 April 2013). Branding in a Competitive Marketplace. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-81-321-1631-8. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  6. ^ Gartner, Lisa (May 28, 2016). "That line about college kids surviving on Ramen? No longer funny at many Florida schools". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Stephens, Ainjel (2021). "Authentic-Ish: Ramen, Culinary Tourism, and Canadian Foodways" (pdf). Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture. 8 (1/2). American Folklore Society: 67–81.
  8. ^ "RCCラジオ－土曜はドドーンと満員御礼" [RCC Radio - Full house on Saturday] (in Japanese). RCC Broadcasting. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  9. ^ The Ramen Rater (November 29, 2011). "Re-Review: Nissin Top Ramen Chicken Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup". Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  10. ^ BuzzFeedVideo (January 14, 2018). Ramen Chef Reviews Instant Ramen (video). YouTube. Top Ramen review from 0:15-0:42. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Kryza, Andy (January 16, 2014). "Which instant ramen is the best?". Thrillist. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
  12. ^ Santanachote, Perry (May 16, 2013). "Best Instant Ramen". Consumer Reports. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
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