Modulation instability in a highly nonlinear photonic-crystal fiber is shown to allow the generation of optimally pulse-shaped field waveforms that are ideally suited for coherence-controlled nonlinear Raman scattering, including single-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman-scattering microspectroscopy. This approach enables the integration of the efficient spectral transformation and pulse-shaping operations needed for the realization of nonlinear Raman techniques in a single fiber-format component.