cup noodle

The tradition & historical record

A cup noodle is an instant ramen product in a disposable cup, first developed in 1971 and manufactured by the Japanese food company Nissin Foods. The product was first introduced in the United States as "Cup O' Noodles" in 1972, before being renamed to "Cup Noodles" in 1993. ¹

Instant noodles were originally invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Foods. Ando recognized that the bowls used to package instant noodles in Asia were not common in the US, so he designed the paper cup format to make the product more convenient for American consumers. In 1971, Nissin Foods introduced Nissin Cup Noodles, a cup noodle to which boiling water is added to cook the noodles. A further innovation added dried vegetables to the cup, creating a complete instant soup dish. Both Cup Noodle and Cup Noodles are registered trademarks of Nissin Foods. The three original Cup O' Noodles flavors were beef, chicken, and shrimp, with pork flavor added in 1976. Today, Cup Noodles is sold in over 100 countries worldwide, with the cumulative global sales exceeding 50 billion servings as of 2021. The brand's success has led to the creation of a Cup Noodle Museum in Yokohama, Japan, which showcases the history and innovation behind the product. ¹

The Cup Noodles brand began to be sold in the country by Nissin in 1997 in a timid way, but it began to be marketed heavily in the 2020s with commercials and even receiving some exclusive flavors like feijoada and nacho. Some brands imported from Asia such as Nongshim can also be found in oriental product stores. ¹

A variety of cup noodles are sold in India. It includes brands like Master-Cho, Nissin, and Nongshim. These companies launched a few different cup noodles in India to suit local tastes, eg: Mazedaar Masala Cup Noodles, by Nissin Foods. ¹

Precooked instant noodle was introduced in 1990 by Maruchan. Due to its popularity, instant noodles are often referred to simply as "Maruchan". Today, many local brands such as "La Moderna" and "Herdez" have developed their own instant noodles, along Nissin, which is also a newcomer. ¹

Brands available in the Philippines include Lucky Me!, Nissin (under Nissin-Universal Robina, a joint venture of Nissin Foods and Universal Robina), QuickChow, Tekki Shomen and Ho-Mi. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Cup noodle”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

cup noodle is type of noodle packaged and prepared in a paper cup, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 5 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²