Vegan Ramen

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: Ramen, Vegan

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 45

Servings: people

Calories: 768kcal

Cooking this vegan ramen recipe is pure joy. I can honestly say this is why I still love cooking, after spending my entire adult life in the kitchen, nothing makes me happier than creating a broth that has layer after layer of flavor. Cooking is a never-ending exploration, take these two vegan ramen broths, the miso broth I sauté the onions very slowly over low heat, drawing out the sugar and aroma. In contrast, in the Tofu Brûlée broth, we cook the red onions over very high heat caramelizing the sugars and adding umami and color to the broth.

This is the perfect time for you to find the same joy that I see in cooking this vegan ramen recipe.

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Ingredients

Miso Broth

2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 yellow onion large, thinly sliced
½ tsp salt kosher
¼ cup ginger sliced
½ cup garlic cloves smashed
1 tsp salt kosher
2 Tbsp yellow miso
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 Tbsp mirin
6 oz tofu medium-firm
1 dried mushroom
1 kombu sheet
3 scallions
2 cups plant milk
1 cup vegetable broth

Braised Tofu Broth

2 Tbsp coconut oil
½ cup red onion small dice
2 Tbsp miso red
¼ cup brown sugar dark
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp black vinegar
1 cup soy sauce light sodium
5-8 shiitake mushrooms
2 cups water or vegetable broth
⅓ cup ginger fresh sliced
1 beet sliced into rounds 1/4” inch
2 Tbsp sweet soy sauce
15 oz tofu medium

Brûlée Tofu Glaze

1 Tbsp brown sugar dark
¼ tsp salt kosher

Sautéed Clamshell Mushrooms

2 cups clamshell mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil extra virgin
¼ tsp salt kosher

Baby Boy Choy

3 cups baby bok choy
2 Tbsp salt kosher

Fresh Ramen noodles

10 oz ramen noodles fresh

Instructions

How to make Miso Broth

Temperature and time are key in this first step. Heat the coconut oil over low heat, add the sliced onions, and season with kosher salt. Cook the onions slowly for 5 minutes. Make sure to stir the onions, the goal is to keep the onions pale in color.
Add the sliced ginger and smashed garlic. Continue to cook for another 3 minutes.
Add the miso, cooking for 3 minutes, keeping the temperature low.
Add the poultry seasoning and Mirin. Sauté for 3 minutes.
Add the tofu, dried mushrooms, combo sheet, and scallions.
Add the plant milk and the vegetable broth. Bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat to a very low simmer cooking for 45 minutes.
Remove the kombu, scallions, and dried mushrooms, and carefully remove the tofu placing it on a separate plate.
Strain the broth removing the onions, ginger, and garlic.
Place the broth and the tofu in a blender and puree until velvety smooth. Adjust the salt levels if needed, and keep warm until it's time to build the vegan ramen.

How to make the Braised Tofu Broth

Heat the coconut oil over high heat, and add the red onion, cooking for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally, the onions should be starting to turn brown along the edges.
Reduce the heat to medium, and add the brown sugar cooking for 2 minutes.
Red miso is added next, stir to combine cooking for 2 minutes, lightly toasting the red miso.
Add the soy sauce, black vinegar, red wine vinegar, sweet sauce, and vegetable broth.
Remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms. Add the shiitake mushroom and sliced ginger to the broth.
Peel the beet, slice into 1/4” rounds, and place in the broth.
Cut the tofu in half, and place the tofu in the broth.
Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer cooking for 35-40 minutes.
Remove the shiitake mushrooms, beets, and tofu, and set them aside. I chose to strain the onions from the broth but you can just as easily leave the onions in the broth.

How to Brûlée Tofu

Combine the brown sugar with the salt.
Slice the tofu, it does help to lightly dab the tofu with a paper towel before you start to Brûlée the tofu.
Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the tofu, using a handheld propane torch start to cook the sugar until caramelized forming a crisp exterior.
The key to the tofu brûlée is making this the very last step before building the ramen. The tofu is of course full of moisture that will start to melt the brûlée, so timing is critical.

How to sauté Clamshell Mushrooms

Trim the base of the mushroom cluster, removing any dirt, and freeing the mushrooms from the cluster to form perfect individual clamshell mushrooms.
Heat a pan over high heat, add the extra virgin olive oil to the pan, and add the mushrooms.
Cook the mushrooms for 2-minutes, and season with kosher salt. This is meant to be a very fast cook, I want the mushrooms to maintain texture and moisture.
Remove mushrooms from the pan, and set aside until time to build the ramen.

How to blanch baby Bok Choy

Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a rapid boil, and add the kosher salt.
Place the baby Bok Choy in the boiling water cooking for 2 minutes, the Bok Choy should just be cooked, and be bright green. Drain the Bok Choy and allow it to cool to the touch.
Cut the Bok Choy in half lengthwise.
Set aside until time to build the Ramen.

Cooking ramen noodles

Follow the instructions on the ramen package.
Shake excess water out of the ramen before adding it to the broth.

Building the Vegan ramen

Pour the braised tofu broth intake bowl first about 6 ounces.
The miso broth is added next, 16-24 ounces.
The ramen noodles are added to the broth.
Gently place the baby Bok Choy on top of the noodles, the beets are next, then shiitake mushrooms and clamshell mushrooms, the brûlée tofu is last to be placed in the broth.

Notes

Nutritional values are an estimate.

Nutrition