In this post you’ll learn how to make Miso Ramen

There are four components to this Miso Ramen Recipe: ramen noodles, miso broth, dashi soup and topping

Dried vs Fresh ramen noodles for Miso ramen Recipe

These are dried ramen noodles, though the ones that are fresh are much better. It’s pretty easy to find (Amazon even sells it!) and one package will last many, many meals. Beware: Japanese ramen noodles fast, because they are thinner than your average Italian dried pasta. Read package instructions.

Fresh ramen noodles are harder to come by. You’ll have to go to an Asian market. Look in the refrigerated section. You can find fresh ramen sold in bags. The next place to look is in the freezer section. Frozen fresh ramen is just as good. Tip: Do not salt the water! Asian noodles do not need to be cooked in salted water.

Miso Broth

There are many different types of miso paste that you can use for this miso ramen recipe. You can lump them into 3 different categories: White, Yellow and Red.

• White miso (shiro) is made from fermented soybeans and rice. It’s the mildest and sweetest miso.
• Yellow miso (shinsu)  is made from fermented soybeans and barley. It’s fermented longer than white miso, and is saltier.
• Red miso (aka) is made from fermented soybeans and most often, barley. It is the most salty, strong tasting miso.

This is instant dashi, which like sand-coloured tiny granueles. Dashi is Japanese bonito fish stock. Don’t be intimidated if you’ve never used dashi – there’s absolutely NO fishy taste at all. In fact, if you like miso soup, you like dashi. All miso soup is made with a dashi base

Toppings for Miso Ramen Recipe

• Fresh spinach – blanch, then squeeze all of the water out.
• Frozen spinach – defrost, then squeeze all of the water out.
• Corn – canned, fresh or frozen
• Green onions – chopped
• Bamboo shoots – Canned or fresh
• Dried seaweed
• Tofu – drained and cubed
• Snow peas – blanched
• Barbeque cha-siu pork
• Enoki or shiitake mushrooms
• Sliced Japanese fish cakes
• Fresh bean sprouts
• Small pat of butter (Miso ramen joints often offer a pat of butter on top of the ramen. When ready to eat, use your spoon to mix in and melt the butter. The butter offers a rich flavour to the soup.)

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 10 oz dried ramen noodles
• 1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoots canned
• 1/2 cup corn kernels fresh, frozen or canned
• 1/3 cup spinach leaves fresh or frozen
• 8 cups vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons instant dashi granules
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce or to taste
• 4 tablespoons miso paste
• 1 green onion finely chopped

InstructionsCook the egg

1. Place the whole, un-cracked eggs in a medium pot and fill with water to cover eggs by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Turn the heat to high and when boiling, turn the heat off and let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes. Promptly use a slotted spoon (keep the hot water in the pot) to remove the eggs and peel the egg under cold running water. Slice each egg in half. 

Cook the vegetables

1. If using fresh spinach: add the spinach to the hot water in the pot. Let sit for 1 minute. Use slotted spoon (keep hot water in the pot!) to remove spinach. Rinse spinach with cool water. Use hands to squeeze spinach leaves to remove as much water as possible. If using frozen spinach, defrost spinach, then squeeze leaves with hands to remove as much water as possible. 
2. To briefly cook the bean sprouts, add the bean sprouts to the same hot water in pot. Let sit for 1 minute. Use slotted spoon to remove bean sprouts. Again, keep the hot water in the pot! 

Cook the ramen noodles

1. Return the same pot of water to a boil. Add the ramen noodles and cook according to package instructions (most ramen noodles only take 3 minutes to cook.) Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
2. Divide the noodles, hardboiled eggs, bamboo shoots, corn, spinach and bean sprouts among 4 large serving bowls.

Make the miso soup

1. In a large pot, add the stock, instant dashi and soy sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the miso. Taste the soup and add an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of miso if you’d like. Ladle soup into each bowl. Top each bowl with green onions.