Homemade Ramen

When it’s cold outside I crave a warm brothy bowl of homemade ramen. Making ramen used to be intimidating, the first couple of times I attempted to make it at home were a complete flop, but over the years and many variations later, homemade ramen has become a regular dinner at our house. Best of all, my kids love it too! Making good ramen is really all about the soup broth, once you’ve got that part down you can play around with toppings and find your favorite mix, or change it up by season. At our house, we especially love this squash and mushroom version. The sweetness of the squash with the umami savoriness of the mushrooms is a perfect combination.

How to Make Homemade Ramen Broth

Making good ramen broth is really easy, but it does require a little time. The good news is you can make this in a large batch and freeze it for future uses. To make the most delicious vegetarian ramen broth start with a little olive oil in a soup pot, kick this up to high and add a chopped yellow onion. Stir frequently to avoid burning, cook until the onion is translucent and starting to brown. This takes about 5 minutes.

Next add about 3 one-inch pieces of ginger that are peeled and 4 cloves of garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Then add about 8 cups of water, the dried mushrooms, white miso paste, and soy sauce. You don’t even need to stir in the clump of miso paste, just let it breakdown as the broth cooks. Bring this all to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. Cook at a simmer for 35 minutes. That’s it! When you are ready to serve strain the broth and discard the onion, ginger, and garlic.

Homemade Ramen Toppings

While your broth is cooking, prepare your veggie toppings. First I like to get the squash in the oven, since this takes the longest to cook. I like to cook the squash in the oven, but you can certainly grill it as well. I like to use either delicata or acorn squash for this recipe. But butternut and kabocha also work! Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds inside.

Cook the Squash

Grab a glass baking dish or a cookie sheet to cook the squash in. Cook the squash with the flesh side down on to the pan. This creates a steaming effect inside the dish and makes for the most deliciously tender squash. If you cook it with the peel side down to the pan the squash will be dry. Make sure to pour a little olive oil over any part of the squash that will touch the baking dish to prevent it from sticking to the pan. Cook the squash in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Prep the Veggies

Next prep the mushrooms and bok choy. Add some olive oil to a large fry pan and kick the heat up to high. I love to use my large cast-iron pan fry pan. I absolutely love cooking on cast iron. It heats so well and is a cinch to clean. Plus a good seasoned cast iron pan is the best non-stick pan around and without the worry of toxic chemicals.

Back to cooking—slice the mushrooms and add them to the fry pan.  Cut carrots into large matchstick style chunks. I like to cut them in half and then lengthwise in half again, or in quarters if they are really fat carrots. Cook on high, wok style, flipping veggies regularly so they don’t burn.

Last, add the baby bok choy to the pan. Wash the baby bok choy and cut them in half and add them to the fry pan. Sometimes these are a little tricky to clean. After you cut them, take a close peak at the inner layers to make sure they dirt free. Using a spatula, flip the veggies occasionally so they don’t burn. Season with a little soy sauce and cook for a total of 5 minutes until the veggies are slightly browned. Voila!

Cook the Noodles

While the broth is simmering and veggies are cooking, fill a medium size saucepan halfway full of water and place on the stove. Kick the heat up to high and toss in the ramen noodles once it reaches a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and follow the cooking time recommended by the noodle manufacturer. I like to use Lotus Foods millet and brown rice ramen noodles. I love that these are gluten free. Plus, at 4g of protein and 2g of fiber, these are more nutritious than your average ramen noodles. They are pretty easy to find at Whole Foods, or my favorite store in Maine Royal River Natural Foods. Costco even carries these in a bulk size pack!

The trick to these noodles is that you want to rinse them in cold water right after straining them. If you don’t the noodles get mushy. In fact, I’ve tried cooking the noodles directly in the broth, but every time I end up with mushy noodles. I’ve found it best to just cook them separately so I can give them a good rinse and to keep a good noodle texture.

Protein Power

In addition to the protein in the noodles, I like to add some tofu to make this ramen a hearty meal. You can air fry the tofu if you like, but I simply just add cubes of extra firm tofu to the bowl of ramen. I like the softer texture of the uncooked tofu and the broth is plenty flavorful. Sometimes I also sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, or make a delicious walnut miso honey dip to add on top for an extra flavorful protein boost.

Assemble the Ramen

Finally it’s time to eat! To assemble the bowl of ramen, first add a handful of noodles. Throw on some tofu, mushrooms, carrots, and baby bok choy. Add a some squash. If the sqaush is still firm enough, I like to cut it into wedges and add it to the bowl. If its really cooked and too soft you can always add a dollop on top, delicious either way! Lastly, pour the broth over all the toppings and noodles. Then it’s time to enjoy! I usually place soy sauce, Sriracha, walnut miso honey dip and kelp seasoning on the table for people to individually doctor up their bowl of homemade ramen to their specific liking. Yum!

Homemade Ramen

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Make delicious ramen right at home! This mushroom miso broth is simple to make and super flavorful. I love to top it with tofu, roasted delicata squash, shitake mushrooms, carrots and bok choy.

• Author: Erica
• Prep Time: 20
• Cook Time: 30
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x
• Category: Plant based
• Method: Healthy
• Cuisine: Japanese
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Broth

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
• 3 1-inch chunks of ginger, peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 8 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of white miso paste
• 3/4 cup of dried mushrooms
• 1 tablespoons of soy sauce

 

Toppings

• 1 delicata squash
• 2 carrots, cut into large match sticks
• 2 baby bok choy, washed & cut in half
• 2 cups of fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 16oz. pack of extra firm tofu, drained and cubed

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees for the squash.

Prepare the Broth

1. Add the sesame oil to a soup pot and turn the heat up to high. Add the onion and cook until translucent and starting to brown, about five minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning the onions.
2. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring regularly to keep from burning.
3. Add the water, white miso paste, dried mushrooms, and soy sauce to the pan. Give it a stir and then let it sit until it starts to boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Before serving strain the broth to remove the chunks of onion, ginger, and garlic.

Cook the Noodles

1. While the broth is cooking, fill a medium size saucepan 1/2 full of water and bring to a boil on high heat. Cook the noodles per the manufacturers instructions. Once cooked drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

Prep the toppings

1. Cut the delicata squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Pour a little olive oil over the flesh of the squash that will be touching the pan. Place the squash flesh side down on a baking dish and cook for 30 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.
2. Next add a little sesame oil to a large frying pan and turn the heat up to high. Once the pan is warmed up, add the sliced shitake mushrooms and carrots to the pan. Using tongs, flip veggies occassionally to avoid burning and sticking to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the baby bok choy last, as it cooks very quickly. You basically want to sear the bok choy, cook about 1-2 minutes on each side. You can cook all these veggies together in the same pan, I do try to keep them separate, but a little mixing is a-okay.

Assemble the bowls

1. First add the ramen noodles, then top with mushrooms, carrots, bok choy, squash and tofu. Pour the ramen broth over the bowl of noodles and toppings.

Notes

Broth can be made in bulk and stored in the freezer.