It takes only 3 to 5 minutes to have your instant noodles ready, but it took decades to concoct a right recipe for them.

Momofuku Ando, the founder of Nissin Food Products Co and father of first instant noodles was inspired by sight of people queuing to buy bowls of hot ramen noodle soup at a black market stall after World War II.

His noodles were boiled with flavoring, then deep-fried with palm oil to remove moisture, and dried into a noodle cake.

He developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958, and in 1971 he added a waterproof polystyrene container that made his Cup Noodle an instant success.

Since then Nissin was the leader of global instant noodle industry with 85.7 billion servings sold every year. According to a Japanese poll in 2000, instant noodles were the most important Japanese invention of the century, followed by Karaoke (2nd), and Compact Disc (5th).

Instant noodles are often criticized as being unhealthy food high in carbohydrates, saturated fat and/or trans fat, but low in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Additional hazards, such as dioxin, may come from the packaging and glues used to pack the instant noodles.

However, they remain a staple for many people across the globe – for instance, China consumes 44 billion packs of instant noodles per year (51% of the world consumption), South Koreans eat 69 packs per year per capita, the highest number of instant noodles.