My love for ramen started with the famously unhealthy instant noodles that you can get for €0.50 a package in most (Asian) supermarkets. Yummy but soooo incredibly unhealthy! It contains loads of salt, and also a lot of saturated and trans fats. Did you know that the noodles in those packages are fried, and not dried to preserve them?! I used to have no idea, and enjoyed a simple noodle soup once a week or so as an easy and tasty snack, until I found out. Well, no more instant noodles for me!
I already made a recipe for healthy instant noodles (and they are yummy, so check them out!), but I decided I also wanted to make a more ‘authentic’ ramen recipe for on the blog. This is definitely not an instant recipe, because making the broth definitely takes some time, but it is worth it if you have the time and feel like spending some quality time cooking. Slow food movement, here I come!
This soup is also great if you’re feeling a little under the weather. Last week (and the week before), I was feeling kind of ill, and right now I’m actually feeling much better, which in part is due to this soup… Or at least I like to think it is haha! The fresh ginger and chili will open your airways right up. Hope you give this recipe a try, and if you do, I would love to hear/see the result!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large onions, cleaned and halved
- 200 gram carrots in chunks
- 1 bulb garlic, halved
- 1 red chili pepper, halved
- 70 gram fresh ginger in slices
- 100 gram fresh shii-takes, halved
- salt to taste
- 4 tablespoon rice vinegar, or more to taste
- 4 teaspoons reduced salt soy sauce, or more to taste
- 4 teaspoons sesame oil, or more to taste
- 200 gram buckwheat noodles
- 2 soft boiled eggs
- 100 gram tofu
- sesame seeds, bok choy, cilantro, green onion and fresh red chili pepper for garnish
- Put the oil in a large soup pan on high heat and add the onions, carrots, garlic, red chili pepper, ginger and shii-takes. Let cook for a few minutes, while stirring frequently to avoid burns, until a nice aroma comes off of the ingredients.
- Add plenty of water until everything is covered. You want to extract as much flavor from the ingredients as possible, so for that you have to make sure that there is enough water in the pan at all times.
- Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan with a lid. Let simmer for approximately 4 hours, stirring every hour and adding more water if necessary.
- When the bouillon has simmered for four hours, check the taste. If it is flavorful enough in your opinion it is ready.
- In the meantime, prepare the buckwheat noodles according to the package and boil the eggs for 5 minutes. Set both aside until the soup is done.
- Pour the soup through a strainer and throw everything you used to make the broth away.
- Season the soup with salt to taste and add four tablespoons of rice vinegar to the soup. The acidity will bring out the flavor of the soup a lot!
- Divide the soup over four bowls, and add one teaspoon of both reduced salt soy sauce and sesame oil to each bowl.
- Dress up the bowls with the cooked buckwheat noodles, eggs, tofu, sesame seeds, bok choy, cilantro, green onion and fresh red chili pepper if you like a kick. Enjoy!
2 Comments
This soup looks perfect! Love your images!
Aw, thank you so much Laura!!