Do you ever wish you could have a bowl of something warm, satisfying, and healthy all at once? Here’s our answer to that: ramen bowl! Ramen is the ultimate combination of savory & umami flavor explosion that is bound to leave you more than content.

What is Ramen?

Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish served in a broth of some kind. Usually this is meat or fish-based but you can make incredible veggie-based broths too. It’s often flavored with soy or miso and involves several different components. The best thing about ramen is that there are so many flavor combinations, textures, colors, and shapes you can incorporate. The possibilities are endless!

One of our favorites is miso ramen. It’s super delicious with just the right amount of savoriness along with that warm, soothing feeling you get when you drink miso soup. It’s also good FOR you due to the miso which, as a fermented food, we know is good for our gut health. Win-win all around.

Here’s our simple version. Dashi, which is the broth that acts as a base of miso soup, is made first using kombu seaweed and dried shiitake mushrooms, and then miso is added later. It’s important to never boil the miso, as this will cause the live active enzymes and many of the nutrients in it to be lost.

 

How to Make a Tasty Ramen Bowl

It’s always best to have a range of textures and tastes in your ramen bowl. That’s what makes it so good and satisfying to eat. Every bite is filled with all sorts of delicious surprises, which makes your taste buds dance with joy! To lean more about texture and other methods of making your food mouthwateringly delicious, check out our book: Tasty Vegan: How to Put Together a Delicious Whole Food Meal Every Time. It’s got everything you need to know to be able to take your cooking from “meh” to “ flipping delicious!”.

In this recipe we used :

1. roasted cauliflower for a caramelized meaty flavor

2. braised mushrooms for a savory umami punch

3. steamed zucchini for freshness

4. and shaved pickled cabbage for a kick of acidity.

There’s also seaweed in the broth as is typical with miso soup, and we also topped it off with toasted sesame seeds. Yum! It all works so well, it’s hard not to gobble up the whole bowl, to be honest. Enjoy our recipe or use it as a springboard for ideas to make your own.

  

 

Miso Ramen Noodle Bowl

Serves 2

Miso Soup

6 cups water

4-inch piece kombu seaweed

3 dried shiitake mushrooms

6 tablespoons white miso paste (we used chickpea miso)

Ramen Bowl

1/4 head cauliflower, cut into medium florets

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking

2 tablespoons sea salt, plus more to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2-inch piece ginger, minced

6pcs baby Bella mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons tamari

1/2 zucchini, halved lengthways and sliced into thin half-moons

1 head baby bok choy, end removed

300g buckwheat or soba noodles

1/8 red cabbage head, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup dried wakame seaweed, hydrated

3pcs baby Bella mushrooms, sliced thinly (raw)

toasted sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions:

1. Make the dashi: Add water, kombu, and shiitakes to a medium pot on medium flame. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove kombu and shiitakes. You can reuse both of these if you want by slicing them up and adding them back to the ramen later. Remove dashi from heat. Add miso paste and dissolve using a whisk. Set aside.

2. Roast the cauliflower: Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Lay cauliflower florets out onto a lined baking sheet. Add olive oil and a pinch of salt and mix around until all florets are evenly coated. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden.

3. Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms. Heat olive oil in a medium pan. Add garlic and ginger. Cook for 1 minute or until slightly golden. Add 6 sliced baby bella mushrooms, a pinch of salt, and stir. Cook for 5 minutes or until mushrooms start to brown. Add tamari and stir. Cook an additional 2 minutes or until the tamari sticks to the mushrooms. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil on high heat. Add zucchini. Cook for 1 minute, then add bok choy. Cook for an additional minute. Remove both and set aside to cool. In the same pot, cook the noodles according to package directions. Strain and rinse them in cold water. Set aside.

5. Quickly pickle the cabbage: Add cabbage slices to a small bowl and add apple cider vinegar and salt. Massage everything generously with your hand for 30 seconds or until cabbage starts to turn bright purple.

6. Assemble the ramen: Pour miso broth evenly into 2 bowls and add half of the cauliflower florets, pickled cabbage, tamari mushrooms, raw mushrooms, zucchini, bok choy, and wakame to each. Add kombu and shiitakes from the broth if using. Top with toasted sesame seeds.