Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT

Growing up in China as a kid, my childhood smelled like instant noodles.

It is no secret that many Asians love eating instant noodles. It is a dried noodle block; all you need to do is to pour hot water over the par-cooked noodles, add the flavoring powder and some seasoning oil, wait for 2-3 minutes, and then it is ready. It usually comes with a strong smell that fills up the whole house.

It was invented by a Japanese man in 1958 during the food shortages in the post-war period. Thanks to its convenience and taste, this quick and easy meal soon became a global food.

China is the world's most instant noodle-loving nation. It is also the biggest consumer with people eating over 40 billion packs of instant noodles a year, about half of the world's total, according to a report in The Jakarta Post last year.

One of the reasons so many Chinese people love it is because it is cheap. Back in the early 1990s, one pack of huafeng, a local Chinese instant noodle, cost only half a yuan ($0.07). It was so cheap that even a kid could afford it with his or her pocket money.

I remember when I was little, instant noodle was the only snack I had. As a kid, I loved eating the uncooked instant noodles. I just added the salt flavoring and crushed them up in the bag. Sometimes, when I got angry and wanted to destroy something, I would go to a convenience store and secretly smash all the instant noodles they had. I never got caught though.

In my memory, the train in China smells like instant noodles too because almost everyone eats it on the train. "The first bite is the best," my childhood friend, who is obsessed with instant noodles, told me. "The strong smell from the just-made instant noodles is so good."

But not everyone thinks the same way. Earlier this year, instant noodles were banned from being sold on trains because the authorities said the smell is so strong that it affects the air quality inside the trains. It is not forbidden to eat it on the train though. For me, instant noodles are also banned at home because my mother sees it as junk food with no nutritional value.

Even though there were reports saying eating too much instant noodles might cause cancer, it doesn't seem to have stopped Chinese people from eating it.

In recent years, however, Chinese people are losing taste for instant noodles. According to the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, from 2000 to 2010, up to 90 percent of the instant noodle companies closed in China. The reason? It is because migrant workers, the main consumer group, changed their food preferences as their income grew, The Jakarta Post report said.

Suddenly, many of my friends in their 30s have started buying instant noodles again. Not the Japanese ones, but the Chinese brand huafeng.

"It was one of my happiest childhood memories," my friend said.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.