This Vegan Mushroom Shoyu Ramen is packed full of umami thanks to the two star ingredients of the dish: mushrooms and soy sauce. Get the recipe below.
Ramen recipes
Today I'm sharing another ramen recipe. Ramen is best described as a Japanese noodle soup, made with a rich broth and lots of toppings which are usually a mixture of meat and veggies.
Although traditional ramen often uses meat for both the broth and toppings it's not impossible to make a rich broth from vegan ingredients and to only use vegetables as the toppings.
You can use different types of noodles for ramen but I like to use the instant packet noodles which you can buy without the seasonings and flavour packets in most Asian stores. Do switch in and out your favourite noodles as you wish.
What is shoyu ramen?
This Vegan Mushroom Ramen recipe is in the shoyu ramen style. You might sometimes here it referred to as Tokyo ramen.
Shoyu ramen is a type of ramen which is made up of a clear broth, flavoured with soy sauce. It is usually served with medium-thin curly noodles.
The broth is traditionally made from chicken bones and/or pork bones and occasionally kombu seaweed, dried anchovies, and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). But, we can't use any of those ingredients, except the kombu, for our vegan version! So instead we rely on mushrooms.
Ramen toppings
There's no set rule for what toppings you have to have on your ramen though there are some that are more common than others.
Common ramen toppings which we can't enjoy as vegans include:
- Roasted meats such as pork.
- A type of fish cake which usually has a pink swirl through the middle.
- A soft boiled egg.
Common vegan toppings incude:
- fermented bamboo shoots, known as menma.
- spring onions.
- seaweed.
In this recipe I've chosen to use napa cabbage, spring onions, sesame seeds and mushrooms. (More on the mushrooms below.)
I like to nuse napa cabbage as it is fresh and crisp bringing a nice contrast to the softer, rich mushrooms.
All about the mushrooms
This recipe calls for three different types of mushrooms. One is dried and the other two are fresh. They are:
- Dried shitake mushrooms
- Fresh shitake mushrooms
- Shimeji mushrooms
What are shitake mushrooms?
Shitake mushrooms are a type of fungus that is native to Easte Asia.
They have an earthy, smoky flavour and when they are cooked they have a really meaty texture.
You can get them dried or fresh. In this recipe we use the dried mushrooms to give flavour to the broth and we use the fresh mushrooms for flavour and texture in the final dish.
What are shimeji mushrooms?
Shimeji mushrooms are also a type of fungus that are native to East Asia but are cultivated in North America.
They are packed full of umami flavour, whilst also being slightly nutty, sweet and buttery.
You can get white or brown shimeji mushrooms, the brown ones have a slightly richer flavour but both are delicious.
I get mine from my local Asian supermarket.
Can I use other varieties of mushroom?
Yes! Do feel free to swap out any mushroom varieties you wish. Dried porchini would work well in place of the dried shitakes, oyster mushrooms would work well in place of the fresh shitake mushrooms and you could use enoki mushrooms in place of the shimeji mushrooms. Just play around with whatever mushrooms you can get your hands on.
The mushrooms I'd avoid are white mushrooms as they have a very mild flavour. Chestnut mushrooms are a little bit better but also don't have as much flavour as the ones I have suggested.
The recipe
Let's take a close look at how to make the ramen.
Vegan Mushroom Shoyu Ramen
Ingredients
- 1 vegetable oil
- 75 g shitake mushrooms or oyster mushrooms
- 75 g shimeji mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 1 l water
- 10 g kombu
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon sake or other rice wine
- 2-3 tablespoon soy sauce adjust to taste
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 110 g plain instant ramen noodles
- 100 g napa cabbage thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions green part only
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Heat the saucepan on a medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil.
- Saute the fresh mushrooms until golden brown.
- When the mushrooms are done, set these aside. In the same pan, heat the garlic and ginger. Add the water, kombu and shitake mushrooms and bring to a boil. This is your broth.
- In another saucepan, add the noodles and cover with water. Cook according to the package instructions.
- Whisk together the sake, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil.
- When the noodles are ready, drain them and add them to your serving bowls.
- Remove the kombu and shitake, then pour the broth over your noodles followed by the sake/soy sauce/sugar/sesame oil mix.
- Top with the cooked mushrooms, thinly sliced cabbage, spring onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
More noodle recipes
Why not try some of these other recipes using noodles.
And yes, all the recipes you see here are vegan! Enjoy.
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