「真的假的？泡麵的發明者是位出身嘉義朴子的台灣人？」
"Really? Instant noodles were invented by a Taiwanese from Puzi, Chiayi?"
(English version available on the bottom)
過去一週，除了一天南下高雄訪友，我幾乎都待在家人位在嘉義朴子的住處；而講到嘉義朴子，就不得不提一位目前為止對世界歷史最有影響力的朴子人，吳百福（安藤百福）。他的影響力有多大？他是日本日清食品的創辦人，也是把泡麵商品化並行銷全世界的主要推手，並且自稱是泡麵的發明者。今天在全世界任何一個角落，無論是我在西伯利亞鐵路的火車上能用熱水在幾分鐘之內吃到熱騰騰的湯麵，或是可以不時在網路上看到萌死人不償命的新垣結衣小雞拉麵廣告，都得要感謝這位嘉義朴子人。目前正在NHK播出、擁有穩定超越20%收視率的晨間劇《萬福》便是以這位台裔日本企業家的故事改編。
日清集團的官網上將其創辦人安藤百福稱為泡麵的發明者，並且簡述了他創立集團的故事，大致上來說就是戰後日本物資缺乏、許多人營養不良，安藤百福為了善用美援麵粉製造日本食物解決糧食問題，便在自家後院蓋了間小屋，用整整一年的時間努力不懈的研究如何油炸麵條，終於在1958年8月25日開始販售全世界第一款泡麵「チキンラーメン」，也就是小雞拉麵。讀下來是相當動人勵志的一篇故事。
不過，就在我來到嘉義朴子並準備開始寫這篇文章時，內心出現了疑問：如果這個人是如此成功的企業家兼發明家，為何在朴子完全找不到任何一點和他相關的蛛絲馬跡呢？難道不會有人想為他立個紀念碑、甚至把他故居改建成紀念館嗎？正是因為這樣的疑問，讓我發現這個故事的陰暗面——
1. 吳百福有過三段婚姻，其中台籍的大房二房在他移居日本後都被棄之不顧，原本擔任日清社長的大房長子還被他與日籍的三房兒子聯手撤換（根據《週刊文春》）。這些事情讓仍在嘉義朴子的吳家不是很願意提及吳百福這個人。
2. 吳百福並沒有發明泡麵，在後院製造泡麵並且申請專利的是在大阪留學的屏東人張國文。吳百福向張國文購買了專利，並且利用他掌握的黑市資源，成功將泡麵商品化。
既然如此，泡麵到底是誰發明的呢？根據《時報周刊》在2007年的訪談，張國文製造泡麵的靈感來自家人從屏東寄到大阪的雞絲麵，所以他也不是最早以油炸法保存麵條的先驅；早在泡麵出現之前，台灣的雞絲麵和意麵就已經常用油炸的方式保存，而且同樣的方法可能19世紀就已經出現在台灣及中國多個地方。張國文的功勞在於為這種方法申請專利，吳百福的貢獻則是將這個專利買下並且商品化；因此合理推測，日清的元老級商品小雞拉麵，其原型基本上就是台灣的雞絲麵。
故事講到這裡，我已經不指望可以在朴子找到什麼和泡麵或日清有關的痕跡了，只是在據說是吳百福故居所在的光復路上隨便走走；但走著走著，突然看到一間近年新開的7-11，外觀保存的日式民居的特色，門口石碑上有著「朴站門市」的題字，落款人姓吳；回家查了一下，有當地人暗示這棟房子和吳百福有關，雖然也未交代詳情；至於店裡所販售的泡麵，是否為出身此地的一位台灣人所發明？目前看來，比較公允的講法應該是，這是幾位旅居大阪的台灣人，將台灣的油炸麵條商品化並且推向全世界的結果；至於真正的發明者到底是誰，似乎就沒那麼重要了——或許只是某位煮麵時不小心讓麵條掉進油鍋的不知名阿嬤吧！
In the past week, I've been with my parents in a small town Puzi in southern Taiwan. Among the well-known people from here, the most influential one is probably Momofuku Ando (安藤百福), a Taiwanese-Japanese businessman and the founder of Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd., who claimed to be the inventor of instant noodles. Ando was born in Taiwan before WWII (which was then a Japan colony) and later moved to Osaka, Japan. According to Nissin's website, in order to solve Japan's post-war food shortage with the America-provided wheat, Ando spent one full year at a cabin in his backyard to research different ways to make instant noodles. On August 25, 1958, his first instant noodle product Chikinrāmen (チキンラーメン) was launched and gained great success around the world. The story has become the TV show "Manpuku" on Japan's national TV network NHK. This sounds like a very encouraging story. Doesn't it?
Given his business success and contribution to food industry, it should be reasonable for Puzi, his hometown, to memorize him with a monument, house museum, or something like that. In the town of Puzi, however, I can find no clue about this person. This made me wonder about this history, and eventually got to learn about the complexity in Ando's story.
In fact, Ando's story is a bit controversial. He had two marriages while still in Taiwan, and both wives were abandoned after he moved to Japan and married the third wife. Due to this family history, his clan in Taiwan shows little interest in their connection to their relative Ando. In addition, instead of inventing instant noodle himself, he purchased the patent from fellow Taiwanese Kuo-Wen Chang, who actually did the ramen research in the backyard. Ando, nevertheness, always claimed instant noodles as his own invention. Given these facts, it's not surprising that neither his hometown Puzi nor the production team of Manpuku would mention Ando's early life in Taiwan.
If so, who was the actual inventor of instant noodles? Chang, who owned the patent of instant noodles, got his idea from "chicken fiber noodles" (雞絲麵), the deep-fried thin noodles that are popular in Taiwan. Even before then, deep-frying noodles for preservation was not a new technique. It might have been around since the 19th century. However, there's no doubt that Chang's application for patent and Ando's business strategy made instant noodles a successful and globally available food product.
參考資料 References:
http://classic-blog.udn.com/mobile/baogon/43946639
https://shareba.com/module/news/295249050811547500.html
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=1233772
https://www.storm.mg/lifestyle/46361
https://m.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=320&t=4786993
http://www.j2h.tw/bbs/bbs11/5814.html
https://www.nissin.com/jp/about/chronicle/
https://www.nissin.com/en_jp/about/founder/
