I am not sure what it is, it could be the heat outside, but I just don’t have much of an appetite lately, especially for lunch.
Lunch is tough because I am definitely not a sandwich and salad type of person (I frown at the very thought of them), but Chinese food and Malaysian food with rice, stir-fry’s, curries and spices seem too heavy as of late. I wanted something lighter for my lunch, and this bowl of homemade spicy miso ramen came to my rescue. Other than ramen, I have also been eating cold soba noodles and oden, which are equally light and refreshing. I love Japanese food, it’s just refreshing and pleasant–exactly what I need…
I have always thought that making ramen is no small feat, but was very surprised to find out that it’s actually rather easy, if you are willing to cheat. (As you all know, I am quite a cheater when it comes to cooking; I don’t mind taking shortcuts as long as it doesn’t compromise a recipe too much.) The soul of ramen is its soup stock or dashi–where bonito flakes and kombu (seaweed) are boiled in water and then strained. I didn’t have both ingredients so I cheated with hondashi or an instant powdered alternative which essentially is an MSG.
It turned out very well, almost like the spicy miso ramen I get at my favorite ramen joint Santouka. The miso ramen was very tasty, spicy, and I couldn’t get enough. And now, my appetite is totally back!
Want more Japanese recipes? Try the following on Rasa Malaysia:
(Makes two bowls)
Ingredients:
Fresh ramen noodles (for two people)
4 cups water
4 tablespoons white miso paste
3-4 teaspoons S&B La Yu or chili oil
1/2 teaspoon hondashi
2 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 can corn kernels (15 oz can)
1 narutomaki (Japanese fish cake with a pink swirl)
1 stalk scallion (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds (pound with mortar and pestle until fine)
Light soy sauce to taste (optional)
Some seasoned roasted seaweed (cut into thin strips)
Method:
Bring the water to boil and then add in the miso paste, hondashi, eggs, and finely ground sesame seeds. Bring the soup base to boil and reduce to 3.5 cups. Add in the chili oil and light soy sauce to taste (optional).
Blanch the ramen noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are cooked. Rinse with cold running water, drain, and set aside.
In a serving bowl, add the noodles and then topped with the hard-boiled egg (sliced into half), narutomaki, corn kernels and chopped scallion. Pour the miso soup into the bowl and add the roasted seaweeds. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Notes:
- Other than the toppings in my recipe, you should add pork slices, pickled bamboo shoots, etc. to miso ramen.
- I have launched a new “Food & Grocery” store on Amazon. It offers ingredients that you will find in my pantry. Happy shopping and cooking!
Related Posts:
- Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles/焼きそば)
- Chawanmushi Recipe (Japanese Steamed Egg Custard/茶碗蒸し)
- Soba Recipe (Japanese Buckwheat Noodle)
- Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings)
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{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
I had miso ramen on July 4th. haha. I know it’s a pretty big departure from the traditional hot dogs and burgers but i can tell you i enjoyed every bit of it. Your version looks delicious! I’m craving now. :-)
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your bowl of spicy miso ramen looks good. i like the texture of ramen which is not too thick =D
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My appetite is totally up seeing the bowl of ramen! Got to make this soon! THanks for the recipe.
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That ramen looks really tasty!
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Hey Bee, I wouldn’t worry at all about not using actual bonito and konbu– hondashi is what most people in Japan actually use anyway :) I looooove spicy food, so your yummy ramen with the chili oil floating on top gives me the jollies :)
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This looks awesome – maybe a little spicy for me, but still great none the less.
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Looks yummy!!!!
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This looks absolutely delicious. I’m motivated to go make a bowl right now.
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Oh dear.. didn’t know hondashi are actually MSG. I use alot of that, prefer it to chicken stock granules.
I’ve been cooking miso noodles lately. What a great idea to add chilli oil to make it a spicy treat. Yummy.
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I like the colour of your miso ramen. I call that YUMMY COLOURS!
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Hear you about the lunch difficulties. ;) That bowl of ramen will surely hit the spot! I could slurp it up from here.
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I doubt iv had miso ramen before but i like the fish cake with pink swirl! lol.
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Pssst…making good dashi out of konbu and katsuo flakes is really easy. Since it’s all simmered/boiled in one pot it requires little prep. Find a strainer for the flakes and a bit of time while you’re doing some other task and you’re good to go.
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Hey Bee, thanks for your good vines n hugs ..i’m feeling all good now, and infact a bow of that miso would make me feel even better ! i’m such a sucker for Japanese food. This bowl of miso looks gr8 babe ! Like just right out of a fancy restaurant.
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I also love cold soba noodles with ginger and spring onions. Your ramen looks gorgeous!
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Looks like a great dish. Much better than the ramen noodles in a package :)
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What a gorgeous looking dish! Colorful, appetizing and surely extremely delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
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Quick, easy and beautiful – a keeper for sure!
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This looks great, im a big fan of ramen and never attempted to make it at home. Thanks for the receipe, gonna have to give this a try this week.
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This looks fabulous. I really like ramen, it will be great to be able to make it at home.
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looking at your pic made my mouth water…. wish I could have some of it! Love japanese too..
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I feel very lucky to be living in OC where I am so close to fabulous Japanese restaurants. Even better, there are some great ramen houses here as well where I can get my fix of ramen noodles. I have to eat this like….at least once a week!
But the ones I eat certainly don’t look as pretty as yours! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll have to get off my toosh and start making it now!
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This is my kind of dish! I usually use udon noodles but I should try ramen next time!
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Too pretty to be eaten! :)
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I hope you consider giving classes, this looks soooo delish…
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this looks well yummy! beautiful.
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This looks better than some which I ordered at restaurants in SG :P~~
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Japanese fish cake in the noodles! I can have this everyday!
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I had this 2 weeks back at a local Japanese restaurant in penang, and it was bad. Really bad, and that was one of the popular Japanese outlet…
Anyways, yours look so delicious! D u know where can I buy Jap food ingredients in Penang? :-) Happy Weekend!
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That is a very nicely appointed bowl of miso ramen! We have also been taking cold noodles of late to beat the heat. Japanese: somen and soba; Vietnamese: bun and garlic noodles; Korean: chap chae; Chinese: lo mein; Thai: pad woon sen.
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Wow… your ramen looked real impressive just like those sold in those lavish restaurant over here. I always like the colorful display on each Japanese meal. :)
http://crizfood.blogspot.com/
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Like White on Rice Couple, I also live in OC… and since you are/were in LA (I think), I am guessing maybe you ate at one time or another at Santouka or Daikokuya? I love the shio ramen at Santouka (LOVE), but I’ve tried their spicy miso and I have to say yours actually looks way better! REALLY nice job.
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Hi again :)
I wasn’t too hopeful about the hondashi, because you said it’s an MSG – I immediately thought of the bouillon used for instant ramen. I have to say though, this stuff tastes way better than most MSG stocks. Lucky for me, I was able to find it at my local asian market.
Being from the US, it was hard for me to find the right noodles. I ended up using something labeled ’somen noodle’. I think this just means soup noodle. For a hint I found them right next to udon noodles which were posted as such. There is so much conflicting information on the web, it’s frustrating for westerners to figure out asian ingredients :). I think I chose correctly though – it turned out well.
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This miso ramen looks delish. i will try making it using your miso ramen recipe.
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hi, has anyone tried making it? instead of drooling over the pic, maybe someone could try it and comment. i luv the pic too!
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I did & it's delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I didn't think it would be that easy to replicate the real thing.
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hmmm looks yummy. i shall try it as i still have an unopened packet of miso in the fridge. tfs the recipe
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Thank you for all of the recipes on your blog! I’ve been going thru a Japanese craving myself so plan on doing all your recipes!
As for lunch, you might have already tried them, and still may not fit your tastes, but my favorites are mixed-sando (I think that was the name), which is generally egg salad sandwich, and sliced cucumber combo with perhaps a ham sandwich. My other is omurice, kinda of a tomato fried rice, wrapped in fried egg and ketchup as the sauce (or perhaps demigrace sauce though I’ve only seen that done in a Japanese drama).
Thanks again!
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Hi I would really love to try ramen i’ve heard many good things about it but i dont know where i can try it in the UK
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Hi Dean – I am sure there are Japanese restaurants that serve ramen in the UK.
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I am so grateful for this blog. So many wonderful recipes that I cannot find anywhere on the internet. Thanks for sharing your talent with all of us. Oh, and I love miso ramen! I’ve never tried to make it at home though but will try this recipe soon. Just a lil tip for cooking with miso: don’t let it boil. It’s best to add it in at the very end of cooking. It alters the flavor and compromises the quality of the soup stock.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Thanks for the kind complements, and the miso tip, Miyuki. It’s really nice to have readers sharing the lil tips that make the real difference :)
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Like Gyoza, Ramen is another Japanese adaptation of Chinese food. Ramen used to be called ‘Chinese Noodles’ versus Udon or Soba.
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