Ramen...the perfect comfort food and a staple in Japanese cuisine.
Hubby and I just returned from our phenomenal 12 day trip to The Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Just like everyone else, we fell in love with everything Japan had to offer, from the people, lifestyle, temples, monasteries, technology, green tea, sushi, and of course, ramen.
We kept hearing that it is impossible to get vegetarian ramen because even their vegetarian broth can have fish sauce in it so we didn't even try to look for any ramen places. During one of our random searches for vegetarian restaurants on happycow.net, we found the holy grail, T's Tantan, a vegan ramen restaurant! Needless to say, we were thrilled! This super cute place is at the very busy Tokyo station so our tourist mode kicked in and after asking about 10 people for directions, we finally made it. We were greeted with a bow while hubby and I walked in with our luggage and desperate-for-ramen faces.
The ramen was beyond amazing! It was fresh and had incredible flavors. Although it is acceptable to slurp your noodles and broth, I simply couldn't get a hang of it. With each attempt, the noodles would just slobber all around a 2 inch radius of my mouth. I even tried watching other people slurp, yes, I was that person, but my attempts were unsuccessful so I just ate the noodles like the Italians do. Oh well.
After being back from our trip, we've been in Japan withdrawal. So my cure was homemade vegetarian ramen. Its so simple and comforting. I'm not sure if this is the traditional way to cook ramen but this is The Mess I Make's attempt.
Veggies
1/4 cup corn - frozen or fresh, whatever you have
1/4 cup peas - frozen or fresh, whatever you have
1/4 green onions - chopped
1/4 red onions - sliced thin
1/2 cup carrots - shaved ribbons using a vegetable peeler or Jullianed
1/2 cup cabbage - shredded
1/2 cup spinach - chopped
a handful of cilantro - chopped
1 lemon - sliced
You can also add: Nori (seaweed), Bean sprouts, Tofu, Boiled egg, Chopped roasted peanuts, Toasted sesame seeds
- Have all the veggies ready to go in a platter to make things easy. This can be a fun make-your-own-ramen party!
Broth
6 cups of vegetarian broth (you can use vegetarian bullion and make 6 cups of broth)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2-1 tbsp Sriracha sauce (add or subtract per your spice tolerance)
salt, to taste
- Put everything in a huge pot and let it boil for a few minutes. Turn the heat on low until ready to serve. - Bring the broth back to a boil right before serving.
Noodles
Ramen noodles can be found at any Asian store. I used Hakubaku or you can just use the good 'ol instant ramen noodles (minus the seasoning).
Salt, to taste
- Cook as directed on the package.
Serve
- Place noodles in individual bowls.
- Add veggies of your choice.
- Pour boiling broth over the noodles and veggies. Be very careful not to burn yourself! I suggest putting the bowls on a tray or a plate and then pouring the broth in them.
- Cover the bowls for a minute or so and then dive in!
Revision:
In a large pot, add vegetable broth, lemon juice, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce and salt. Once the broth comes to a low simmer, add the noodles and cook them in the broth. When the noodles are almost cooked, turn off the heat but leave the pot on the same stove, add the veggies to the broth and noodles, cover and let it sit for a minute or two. Serve hot.
Serves: 4 | Total time, about an hour
My cousin-in-law, Deepika, called this picture, "The Levitating Chopsticks."
