Origins
What were the decisive moments in the history of instant noodles? Qingji Ice Dessert Parlor opened its doors in Yuanlin, Changhua County, in 1946. In its early days, Qingji sold ice desserts in summer and seasoned millet mush and jisi noodles in winter. Both Japan-based Taiwanese writer Liu Li-er and Japanese writer and journalist Tsuyoshi Nojima have suggested that Taiwan’s jisi noodles are actually the prototype of Japanese instant noodles. Qingji’s delectable invention in fact predated Japan’s famous Nissin instant noodles.
Dai Yi, Qingji’s third-generation owner, tells us that it was in 1951 that his grandmother Dai-Xie Yuefeng started to prepare noodles by frying them in pork fat. The intention was to reduce the cooking time when they were later boiled in water. Because the crinkly fried noodles looked like thin shreds of chicken meat, they came to be called “shredded chicken noodles” (jisi mian in Mandarin, kesi mi in Taiwanese).
The world, however, probably owes its first commercially manufactured instant noodles to Momofuku Ando (1910–2007), founder of Nissin Food Products, who developed this new line of products in 1958.
Nevertheless, Ando himself had close connections with Taiwan. A Japanese entrepreneur of Taiwanese origin, he was born in today’s Puzi City in Chiayi County, his Taiwanese name being Go Pek-hok (Wu Baifu in Mandarin).
Taiwan is indebted for its first locally manufactured packets of instant noodles to National Foods, which brought out the chicken-flavored Sunlih Noodles in 1967. Unfortunately, the company didn’t fare well subsequently and is no longer trading.
The second oldest, Tung-I Noodles, were developed by Uni-President Enterprises, whose products still dominate the industry today, occupying 48% of Taiwan’s instant noodles market. Uni-President spokesman Tu Chung-cheng says that his company originally specialized in the production of flour and animal feeds. In order to enhance the practical uses of its flour, Uni-President organized a research trip to Japan in 1969 and began to manufacture instant noodles with sachets of flavoring powders in the following year.
In time, Uni-President would deliver a series of legendary culinary masterstrokes. In 1971 Kao Ching-yuen, then chairman of the company, treated his Japanese guests to the famous danzai noodles at Tainan’s Du Hsiao Yueh restaurant—a flavorsome noodle soup graced with braised minced pork and prawns. “How do they make these smell so good?” The guests’ appreciative response inspired Kao to work on inventing danzai-flavored instant noodles, and Uni-President’s Tung-I Minced Pork Noodles came onto the market in the same year.
While many Taiwanese people have memories of eating danzai noodles on traditional bamboo stools at local eateries, Tung-I Minced Pork Noodles, now 53 years old, have given this vintage dainty a mobility that suits the modern age. The classic fragrance of braised pork that comes with it has itself entered the country’s collective memory, evoking a sense of old-time warmth. Since their launch, Tung-I Minced Pork Noodles have not only been Uni-President’s best-selling instant noodle product but also topped national sales charts.
Qingji Ice Dessert Parlor’s jisi (“shredded chicken”) noodles are regarded as the prototype of instant noodles.
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