History
Originally posted onApril 27, 2025 @ 10:07 pm
The Food That Built America Recap for The Asian Invasion
-This week’s episode of The Food That Built America is titled The Asian Invasion and talks about the revolution of ramen noodles and Asian cuisine.
–In the 1950s, food in America was basic types of cuisine lacking in flavor. Most people would live on meat and potatoes with the occasional burger and grilled cheese sandwich.
-Asian culture was not what it was today and there was a lot of racism and xenophobia.
-In Japan, Momofuku Ando had hit rock bottom and jailed for tax evasion. Once he was released, he was left with very little. He notices that people around him were eating ramen, which would lead to him putting the iconic meal on the map.
But first, he focuses on the noodles themselves. At the time, it was hard to make ramen at home, so it was often enjoyed at restaurants. Momofuku sets up a shop in his backyard shed, experimenting with his own noodle recipes that people can buy in grocery stores. The goal is to make instant ramen that people can make by simply adding boiling water.
-He presoaks the noodles with the broth and experiments with adding the water to make the broth. There is a lot of trial and error, and he gets frustrated with the whole thing.
-Back in San Franscisco, a woman named Cecelia Chiang visits her sister and tries American Chinese food for the first time. It is not the food she is used to nor were the dishes ones served or even heard of in China. She decides to take matters in her own hands and would open up her own restaurant that would become one of the biggest chains in the nation.
-Back in Japan, Momofuku is still working on his ramen. Then he is inspired by tempura and works on yet another ramen experiment. This is the golden ticket….by adding the broth and oil to the noodles and then cooking them with boiling water. Now he needs to get it into stores.
-Cecelia opens her own restaurant called The Mandarin, featuring more traditional Chinese dishes, such as shark fin soup and moo Shu pork. However, people are not interested in trying these dishes.
Momofuku goes to different distributors to try and get his ramen into stores. He starts with a chicken flavor and has people try it. It ends up in stores in Japan in 1961. People go wild for it and call it magic ramen.
-The company, known as Nissin, opens a factory and makes tons of money. However, there is a lot of competition, so he plans to bring it to America.
-However, Chinese Restaurant Syndrome is rapid in America, leaving people questioning the cuisine. This poses a problem for him since he wants to expand his business into the USA.
-Back in San Franscisco, Cecelia finally has her luck change by finding dishes people enjoyed. Celebrities such as John Lennon loved it, and it allowed for other Chinese places to open. Sushi bars are also opening, making Asian food a huge hit….until Chinese Restaurant Syndrome hits the business.
-The symptoms (such as swelling) were caused by MSG, a type of flavoring used in different foods, including Asian food. People begin to worry, but Dr. Howard Steel, who wrote the study under a fake name, is proven wrong by the FDA.
-Momofuku gets his Top Ramen in the USA. He even travels there and offers samples of the soup, which we know as Top Ramen. People are not impressed by it and he begins to worry about the state of his business.
-The employees at the store he was sampling at loved the soup and made it by breaking up the noodles and adding them and boiling water to coffee cups. This gives him a light bulb moment and once back in Japan, makes what we now know as Cup O’ Noodles. He adds dehydrated veggies to make it more of a meal and drops the ramen name, focusing on the fact that it is a noodle soup.
-It is a hit, especially for people who are on the go. Several other brands follow suit and make their own versions of the soup.
-Nissin Foods is the most popular brand of noodle soup in America and worth billions.
-In the 1980s, Cecelia and her son Phillip open another restaurant. Phillip would soon meet a man who would change his life and the restaurant forever.
-The owner of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Paul Fleming, talks to Phillip and says he should look into opening a chain restaurant version of The Mandarin. Several other cuisines were doing this, but Phillip was not interested….yet.
-Paul was not going to give up. He and Phillip would form a friendship and Cecelia was ready to sell the restaurants and retire. She puts Phillip in charge, and he has a change of heart when it comes to working with Paul.
-The two of them work on finding something that will work for the both of them and offering different Asian cuisines. However, as they debate on what to serve, China Coast opens. This gives them the kick in the pants to get the restaurant off the ground with a new hook.
-They decide to give it an upscale steakhouse feel while still being affordable. They also need a name. Phillip decides to spell his last name Chang instead of Chiang so people would pronounce it and use PF instead of Fleming Chang….thus becoming PF Chang’s.
-The opening night is a huge success. It is 1993, where food is becoming a huge part of American culture, which makes the restaurant a success.
-After two years China Coast closes its doors.
-PF Chang’s is worth billions.
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