![]() ![]() The rollers also produce a fine, smooth texture on the dough sheet – the scientists checked it using a microscope. #INSTANT RAMEN SERIES#But then the dough is run through a series of rollers covered in grooves, which press the air bubbles out of the dough as if they were toothpaste in a tube. ![]() The process that they developed starts with a fairly standard ramen dough. So, he and his colleagues aimed for a noodle that was the opposite of the instant version – one that was very dense. The comfort food that took over the world.The resulting mess is swollen and soggy.Īn added danger to the noodles' integrity, Sasaki adds, is that while Japanese eaters slurp piping-hot noodles very quickly, not everyone is so fast. Porous noodles don't age well, as anyone who's forgotten a cup of noodles in the microwave can relate. That required a technically different approach from instant noodles. ![]() From the perspective of Ajinomoto and its goal of delivering a better ramen, the best way to get a fresh-tasting noodle to the customer was to cook it, then freeze it. "The internal structure of the instant noodle is porous," Sasaki says, so that water can rush in and saturate it quickly. And as American palates learned what these noodles could be like in recent years, following a groundswell of ramen shop openings, the company began to ponder producing something closer to the fresh version, recounts Taro Komura, an executive vice president at Ajinomoto Foods North America.Ījinomoto, by the way, was founded in 1908 by a Japanese chemist who discovered certain molecules behind the flavour called umami and gave it its name – he started the company to sell monosodium glutamate, a tasty new seasoning.īecause instant ramen has to cook swiftly when the hot water is poured over it, the noodles are designed with plenty of space within each strand. The comforting bounce of noodles that have been fried and dried and rehydrated, the bite of the salty soup packets, the swift transformation from brittle puck to savory snack – what's not to like? It doesn't have very much in common with ramen made fresh in a shop, though. Instant ramen, of course, has a beloved place in many hearts. When noodles have to be cooked, frozen, and then microwaved, the bar is set very high for the scientists hoping to make a quick ramen lunch palatable. These are frozen ramen bowls, ready for the office microwave. Behind all the noodles you toss into a boiling pot of water, there's probably a team of food scientists like him, employed by the manufacturer to calculate the precise ingredients and chemistry required to achieve the desired effect.Īnd Sasaki has another tricky layer or two to work with: as a food scientist at Ajinomoto Foods, he is one of the people behind an unusual processed food that can be found lining grocery freezer shelves. Shinji Sasaki would be the first to tell you. ![]()
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