Vegetarian Ramen

Ingredients

• Mushrooms

  Shiitake, dried

  12 mushroom or 43g

• Water

  Plain, clean water

  1 cup or 237g

• Sesame seeds

  Seeds, whole, dried

  2 tbsp or 18g

• Ginger

  Spices, ground

  1 ½ tsp or 3g

• Garlic

  Raw

  2 clove or 6g

• Scallions

  Spring onions or scallions (includes tops and bulb), raw

  2 medium or 30g

• Sesame oil

  Salad or cooking

  1 tbsp or 14g

• Gochujang Hot Sauce

  Bibigo

  6g

• Miso

  1 ½ tbsp or 26g

• Sake

  Alcoholic beverage, made from rice

  1 tbsp or 15g

• Soy sauce

  Regular sodium, Shoyu

  1 ½ tbsp or 24g

• Reduced fat milk

  Fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin a and vitamin d

  2 cup or 488g

• Simmer Sauce

  Mushroom Dashi - Wegmans

  16 tbsp or 256g

• Salt

  Table

  ½ tsp or 3g

• Pepper

  Spices, black

  1 dash or 0.1g

• Bok Choy

  1/2 head raw - Whole Foods Market

  1 head raw or 840g

• Noodles

  Egg, cooked, unenriched, with added salt

  200g

• Egg

  Whole, fresh eggs

  2 medium or 88g

• Beans

  Kidney, mature seeds, sprouted, raw

  ½ cup or 92g

• Kimchi

  Trader Joe's

  4 tbsp or 2g

• Corn

  Sweet, yellow, canned, whole kernel, drained solids

  ¼ cup or 41g

• Toasted Seaweed Nori

  Yamamotoyama - Walmart

  1 sheets or 1g

Directions

1. Gather all the ingredients.
2. A typical ramen bowl can hold 12001400 ml of liquid. We will prepare 11/2 cups (360 ml) of soup broth per bowl, which should be more than enough. If you're using bigger bowls, you may need to prepare extra soup.
3. To Make the Vegan Dashi
4. Soak 1 piece kombu (dried kelp) and 12 dried shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup water for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the ramen ingredients. Tip: Use less mushroom if they are thick and large, and use more if they are flat and small. I set a small mixing bowl on top to make sure the dried shiitake mushroom is completely submerged in the water.
5. After 30 minutes, transfer this cold brew vegan dashi (the liquid, kombu, and shiitake) to a medium saucepan.
6. Slowly bring the cold brew dashi to a near boil over low heat; this slow extraction will help enhance the dashi flavor. Right before the liquid reaches a boil, remove the kombu and shiitake mushroom from the dashi (you can repurpose them; see the tip in a later step). Turn off the heat. Tip: If you leave the kombu in the pot, the dashi will become slimy and bitter.
7. Transfer the vegan dashi to a measuring cup. Make sure you have 1 cup of dashi; if not, add water.
8. Tip: You can use the spent kombu to make Simmered Kombu (Kombu Tsukudani) and Homemade Furikake (Rice Seasoning). Cut off the stem of the spent shiitake mushroom and use the cap just as you would a fresh shiitake mushroom.
9. To Prepare the Ingredients
10. Prepare a big pot of water for cooking the bok choy and noodles. Slowly bring it to a boil on medium-low heat while you prepare all the ingredients.
11. Grind and crush 2 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds in a Japanese mortar and pestle (suribachi and surikogi).
12. Grate the ginger (I use a ceramic grater). Reserve 11/2 tsp ginger (grated, with juice). If you're unsure how much ginger flavor you'd like, start with less and add more later.
13. Next, mince or press 2 cloves garlic (I use a garlic press).
14. Separate the green and white parts of 2 green onions/scallions. Cut the white part (for the soup broth) into thin rounds.
15. Then, cut the green part (for the garnish) into thin rounds. Keep them in separate bowls.
16. Cut 1 head Shanghai bok choy into quarters lengthwise and rinse clean under water. Debris tends to hide between the layers, so rinse them thoroughly.
17. To Make the Soup Broth
18. Set a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 1 Tbsp roasted sesame oil, the minced garlic, the grated ginger, and the white part of the green onions/scallions. Cook until fragrant, about 12 minutes. Tip: Make sure not to burn the aromatics.
19. Add 11/2 Tbsp doubanjiang (spicy chili bean paste) and 11/2 Tbsp miso to the saucepan. Stir constantly so that they don't burn. Tip: Try different miso types to create a slightly different flavor for the soup broth. For information on doubanjiang substitution, see the blog post.
20. Next, add 1 Tbsp sake and use a wooden spatula to stir and release the bits of the sauce attached to the bottom of the saucepan.
21. Add the ground sesame seeds and 11/2 Tbsp soy sauce and mix it all together.
22. Gradually add 2 cups unsweetened soy milk, stirring constantly and making sure to dissolve the doubanjiang and miso.
23. Then, add 1 cup Vegan Dashi.
24. Taste the soup now and adjust the seasoning with 1/2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 1 dash of white pepper powder, to taste. Don't be shy about adding salt because the broth will taste less salty after you add the noodles. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid, and set aside.
25. To Blanch the Bok Choy
26. Prepare a medium bowl of cold water and set aside. In the big pot of boiling water, add the bok choy, stem end first, and cook it for 2 minutes. When the bottom end is tender, turn off the heat.
27. Without draining the water, remove the blanched boy choy from the pot and transfer it to the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Keep the hot water in the big pot to cook the noodles in the next step. Once the bok choy is cool enough to handle, squeeze the water out and set aside.
28. To Reheat the Broth and Cook the Noodles
29. Now, it's time to reheat the soup broth until it's piping hot, but don't let it overboil because it may curdle. Before cooking the fresh noodles, loosen them up with your hands.
30. Turn the heat back on for the big pot of water and bring it to a boil again. Once boiling, add 2 servings fresh ramen noodles and cook according to the package instructions. While cooking, stir and separate the noodles with chopsticks. Here, I cook the noodles inside a big noodle strainer (I got it in Japan) that I've set inside the pot.
31. When the noodles are done cooking, drain them well in a strainer, shaking it a few times to drain the water thoroughly (otherwise it will dilute the soup broth). Transfer the noodles to the individual ramen bowls.
32. To Serve
33. Divide and pour the piping-hot soup broth with seasonings over the noodles. Divide and add the prepared toppings2 Ramen Eggs (Ajitsuke Tamago) sliced lengthwise, 1/2 cup Spicy Bean Sprout Salad, 1/4 cup homemade vegetarian kimchi, 1/4 cup frozen or canned corn, and 1 sheet nori (dried laver seaweed)to the bowls. Garnish with the bok choy and the chopped green onions.
34. To Store
35. You can keep the soup broth in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cook the noodles right before serving.

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