When it’s cold and rainy outside, there’s nothing quite like curling up indoors with some warming comfort food — all I’m craving on days like that is some soup. Cue this easy vegan ramen noodle soup.
The recipe is easy to put together — well, as easy as making something from scratch can be! It won’t be the same as simply pouring hot water over a cup of instant ramen noodles, but the extra effort is so worth the result. What you’ll get is a delicious bowl of hearty comfort food packed with flavour, minus the overload of sodium, MSG, and other preservatives like you would in the instant version.
The broth is the most essential component here. It’s a rich, savoury, delicious broth that builds a deep flavour profile the longer it’s allowed to simmer. The aromatics pack a gingery, garlicky punch — don’t be afraid of the amount of garlic used! Though the recipe calls for a full head of garlic, the flavour will be much more subdued and complex in the end. Since this is a vegan broth, the umami flavour bombs here are from the miso paste and dried shiitake mushrooms. What you get is an intensely flavourful broth that’s delicious even on its own!
For vegetables, I used local mushrooms called milky mushrooms. They’re called “milky” because of their white colour, and have a mild flavour as compared to other mushrooms. They’re favoured because of their versatility in many recipes. You could use any other variety of mushroom too — button, cremini, or a mix.
Along with the mushrooms, I also used water spinach or morning glory as they are also known as. These greens are local to the north eastern parts of India, known regionally as “kalmi shaak” or “saag.” They taste delicious in Asian preparations or simply stir-fried with a dash of soy and some garlic. Rich in vitamins, minerals, iron and calcium, this is a great way to add nutritious value to the soup. I used these greens because they were in abundance at the local market — spinach, baby spinach, or bok choy would all be excellent choices here.
Once you’ve got the broth and the veggies all ready, finish your bowls with cubes of tofu that have been crisped up and are golden browned to perfection. Then come the steamy slurpy noodles — use the fresh variety if you have access to it, otherwise packaged dried noodles are just as good (and what I used). Top up with some sliced spring onions, sesame seeds and a dash of chilli oil. The heat from the chilli oil somehow rounds out all the flavours and makes this ramen even more crave-worthy.
It’s really the ideal dinner recipe for a cozy night in; on days you deserve a warm bubble bath and big beautiful bowl of brothy noodles to curl up with.
- 1 head of garlic, sliced crosswise
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 inch nugget of ginger, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- ½ cup dried shiitake mushrooms (optional)
- A large handful of herbs (parsley, coriander, celery leaves)
- A few whole black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon miso paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 140g ramen noodles (2 x 70g packets instant ramen)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 200g firm tofu, cut into cubes
- 1 cup milky mushrooms, roughly torn (or substitute button/cremini mushrooms)
- 150g water spinach (or substitute baby/regular spinach or bok choy)
- Garnishes: black sesame seeds, chopped spring onions, chilli oil
- To make the broth: Finely chop the garlic cloves from one half of the garlic head. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and add the chopped garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Place ginger and celery in the pan and sauté for another 5 minutes.
- Add 8 cups of water along with the remaining half head of garlic, and dried shiitake mushrooms if using. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and add in the herbs, whole black peppercorns, miso paste, and a generous pinch of salt. Let the broth cook for about 20-30 minutes or until significantly reduced. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt if required. You can also add a dash of soy.
- Once the broth is done, strain using a fine mesh sieve into a clean pot to remove all the aromatics and herbs.
- Meanwhile, cook the ramen noodles in a pot of salted boiling water until al-dente. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Toss with a little bit of oil to prevent clumping.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add the tofu cubes and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until uniformly browned and golden. Remove from heat and season with a pinch of salt.
- In the same hot pan with leftover oil, add the mushrooms and sauté on high heat. When almost done, add the water spinach and cook until just wilted. Remove from heat and season with salt.
- Assemble the ramen bowls:Divide the ramen noodles into individual bowls, and top with tofu cubes, mushrooms, and water spinach. Ladle some of the broth into each bowl. Garnish with black sesame seeds, chopped green onions, and a little bit of chilli oil.
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