Ramen – a Japanese speciality

What exactly is ramen, and what is so special about this soup? Ramen soup originally comes from China and was adopted by Japanese cuisine in the 19th century. Today it is considered typically Japanese.

Ramen is just the noodles, consisting of flour, salt, and water. You can buy ramen noodles either dried or fresh at the supermarket. Otherwise, you can make ramen noodles yourself.

The soup of the same name is the base for the noodles. You can make the stock in different ways. One option is shoyu, which is based on soya sauce. There is also shio, which is made from fish and seafood. The miso style is based on a fermented soya paste. And finally, there is tonkostu, which is made from boiled pork bones. Depending on your personal taste and lifestyle, you can cook or order vegan, vegetarian or meat-containing ramen.

You can then add the ramen noodles and other side dishes such as vegetables to the soup base.

In almost every ramen soup you will find tofu, beef, pak choi and carrots.

The possibilities when choosing ingredients are endless. Whether spring onions, cauliflower, peas, edamame, broccoli, sweetcorn, mushrooms, eggs or sprouts, the range of options is vast. You can give free rein to your creativity and throw your favourite foods into the spicy broth. This means you can easily use up leftovers from your fridge in the broth.

Ramen as a dish is very suitable for a seasonal soup. The ideal vegetables will vary depending on the season. For example, the best time to buy broccoli is between July and September. Carrots, on the other hand, can be bought fresh between May and September. Alternatively, you can also use frozen vegetables for the ramen noodle soup.

In general, anything that is tasty can go into ramen.

• Finely grate the onions and garlic.
• Cut the chilli into rings.
• Clean and quarter the mushrooms.
• Sauté the onions, ginger, and garlic in the sesame oil.
• Briefly sauté the chilli, mushrooms, soya sauce, and mirin.
• Deglaze with your vegetable stock.
• You can now add ingredients to your broth as you wish.

• Make the broth. You can use a stock from the supermarket or make your own.
• Heat the broth.
• Cook the ramen noodles.
• Add the seaweed and miso paste to the hot broth.
• Add the chilli, ginger, salt, pepper, and soya sauce.
• Cook the eggs according to your taste. Soft-boiled eggs take about 7 minutes, depending on their size.
• Add the meat or tofu to the broth. You should cook the meat a little longer than the tofu.
• Place the noodles, spring onions, coriander, carrot, broccoli, and bamboo shoots in a large soup bowl and pour the broth over them.
• Enjoy your own ramen with chopsticks and spoon.