Miso ramen

A great bowl of ramen noodles is a wonderful thing. Hot, cheap, filling and reasonably quick to throw together – unless your culinary ambitions stretch to making your own ramen noodles, like the amazing Migrant Chef has done. (I am in awe of this achievement…)

This is my take on miso ramen, also known as Sapporo-style ramen.

Miso ramen
(serves 4)

For the soup:

• 1 Tb sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tb of minced ginger
• 1 shallot, minced
• 100g ground pork
• 1 tsp chili bean sauce
• 1 Tb sugar
• 1 Tb sake
• 4 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)
• 2 Tb miso (red is traditional, but white is fine too)
• salt and pepper
• ramen noodles (fresh or instant)

For the toppings, a combination of:

• 1 cup tinned or frozen corn, heated, drained and tossed with butter
• 2 large eggs, boiled for seven minutes, cooled and halved lengthwise
• red pickled ginger
• slices of char siu pork (or thick-cut ham)
• 1 cup fresh bean sprouts, blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds
• a sheet of toasted nori, cut into quarters
• 2 green onions, green tops sliced crosswise and white parts shredded lengthwise
• chilli oil

1. Start by preparing your toppings (as described above).
2. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and shallot and sauté until softened.
3. Add the pork and the chilli bean sauce and cook until the meat is browned.
4. Stir in the sugar and sake, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and leave to simmer gently.
5. In a small bowl, mix the miso paste with a ladleful of broth to loosen it before stirring it into the pot.
6.  Cook the ramen noodles according to the packet instructions, and drain.
7. Divide the noodles between four large bowls. Ladle over the miso broth, then arrange the toppings over the noodles.

Tags: Asian food, dairy-free, Japanese food, noodles, ramen