Come hell or high water, noodle fans get their fix with canned ramen

[Anchorman]

Canned ramen has got consumers doing their noodle, buying it like crazy since it hit the market in April, according to Sunday Mainichi (7/29).

Foodstuffs company Fujitaka has been selling canned Sapporo-style ramen noodles in three different flavors since the spring -- miso, soy sauce and hiyashi (chilled) -- to quiet acclaim.

Yu Yamada got the idea for marketing canned ramen after serving as a volunteer in the wake of the 2004 Niigata earthquake, when he took cans of noodles to those forced to live in evacuation areas following the temblor.

"It was surprising to see how delighted everybody was by the noodles. I just couldn't forget the joyous looks on people's faces," Yamada tells Sunday Mainichi.

Yamada normally runs a ramen restaurant in Tokyo's Shinjuku and is known for his imaginative culinary style. He set about trying to develop ramen that could be served as an emergency food for those forced to evacuate in the wake of a natural disaster.

Yamada came up with the idea of using konyaku, a kind of jellied yam, instead of regular flour-based noodles so they wouldn't go hard. He says his biggest problem was finding a maker, with Japan's canned foods business is going into decline. However, after about a year of experimenting, Yamada and Fujitaka finally came up with some samples. About the only complaint they received was that the flavor was a little light.

"One of the biggest difficulties faced after a disaster is getting water," he says. "We had to make the ramen edible without needing to add water. In fact, what we've come up with by having the soup in the can is a way people can increase their liquid supply."

Success with the canned ramen has prompted the collaborators to come out with two new flavors of canned noodles - curry udon and kitsune udon. The new products are slated to go on the market on Sept. 1, Disaster Prevention Day, highlighting their target market of victims of a calamity.

"Get the family together around a candle," Yamada tells Sunday Mainichi, "and dig into some canned ramen." (By Ryann Connell)