Recently, I was discussing the vegetarian ramen offered at a local restaurant with one of my friends who had quite enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I was less enthusiastic about it since, while it was a very tasty, the broth largely just seemed to be miso soup with a bit of sesame oil added to enrich it a touch. In my opinion, while this made a tasty soup (and is quite similar to something I often make, although usually with soba or udon noodles), it doesn’t really capture the level of heartiness that I want out of a ramen broth. So I set out to develop something that I was happy with, and this recipe is the result (this recipe uses an Instant Pot, see the notes if you don’t have one)

Vegan Ramen Broth (serves 1)

Ingredients

• 0.5tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3tbsp onion, minced
• 1tbsp ginger, minced
• 1tsp garlic, minced (about 1 clove)
• 500mL shiitake dashi
• 1tbsp soy sauce (see notes)
• 2tsp tahini
• 2tsp rice wine
• 1tsp rice vinegar
• 1tsp cornstarch
• 1tbsp water
• 1tbsp shiro miso

Process

1. Put InstantPot on saute and add the sesame oil
2. When the oil is hot, add the onion, ginger, and garlic. Saute them until they become fragrant (~1mn).
3. Add the dashi, soy sauce, tahini, wine, and vinegar, stirring to combine. Cook at high pressure for ten minutes followed by natural pressure release.
4. (Optional) Strain out the bits of ginger, onion, and garlic.
5. Put the InstantPot on slow cook or a low saute setting to keep the soup hot as you add the miso. There are several methods to add miso to a soup, but my personal favourite is to ladle out a bit of the broth into a bowl, add the miso, and stir it until you end up with a miso slurry that can easily be mixed into the rest of the broth. You can also use a miso muddler or very vigorous stirring, depending on your preference.
6. Mix the corn starch with the tablespoon of water and stir to make a slurry, then pour the slurry into the pot, stirring to combine. Cook a bit longer until the cornstarch has had time to thicken the broth.
7. Pour over noodles and enjoy.

Notes

Soy sauce selection: I’ve made this using both a lighter shoyu (Sempio 501 is my preference) and a heavier Chinese-style dark soy sauce (Pearl River Bridge Dark Soy to be specific) and they both turn out well. I personally prefer the dark soy, but it gives a result that’s more like a beef broth. If you want something a bit lighter, the light soy sauce is a good option.

Rice wine selection: I used my homebrewed dry choujiu, but sake would work fine

Without an InstantPot: This recipe uses an Instant Pot, but that’s largely just for convenience. IF you are cooking on the stovetop instead, you’ll just have to simmer the broth for 3-4x as long instead. Keep in mind that a decent amount of liquid will evaporate while simmering, so you’ll probably want to add a bit of extra water as well (or don’t if you want a richer result).