Vegetarian Umami Ramen-ish
I call it Ramen’ish because it will probably be offensive to many the fact that there is no bone used to make the broth.
So… take this more like a noodle soup recipe that you can make basically whenever you like and gives you amazing broth without hours of work.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup Oil (Preferably a more neutral one like Peanut oil)
6 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tbsp Sesame seeds'
3 tbsp Gochugaru (Or other alternative pepper flakes)
2 tbsp Sesame oil
3 Scallions, chopped and with whites and greens separated
1 inch Ginger, grated
2 servings of Noodles (Can be zucchini noodles, Shirataki noodles too), blanched / cooked
10 heads of Bokchoy, blanched (Depending on what you have in the pantry, you can easily flex for another type of vegetable)
You may not need to have everything here, but at least 3-4 to create a complex umami broth:
1 tbsp Tomato paste (double concentrated if possible)
3 tbsp Miso paste (if you like miso, you can go heavier on this)
2 tbsp Gochujang (Might get spicy, adjust based on your preference)
1 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp Kombu
Optional:
1 tbsp Butter (Can omit if you want to keep this vegan!)
What’s Next:
First, let’s make the chili garlic oil. Add the 1/4 of oil in a small sauce pan over low heat. After 2-3 minutes, add in the garlic slices. It should sizzle slightly but not splashing. Stir occasionally to make sure the garlic is colored evenly, the bottom side will brown first. When the garlic picks up light brown color on both sides, add the sesame seeds. When the garlic is in a more medium shade of brown, turn off the heat and let the oil mixture cool in the pan slightly
Add the Gochugaru / Pepper Flake in a small heatproof container, pour in the oil mixture and mix well. Set aside.
Second, let’s make the broth. Add the sesame oil to a deep pot over low heat. After the oil is heated up, add the grated ginger and white and pale green parts of the scallions into the pot. Stir frequently to make sure nothing burns. The scallions should sweat slightly.
When the scallions has fully softened and pot becomes fragrant, add in the tomato paste, miso and Gochujang, however many you have! Continue to stir the paste into the scallion and ginger. Make sure nothing burns on the bottom.
After the paste has darkened in color, add 4-5 cups of water and turn up the heat to medium. Add kombu and soy sauce if you’re using. Add the butter and stir until completely melted. Bring the broth to a boil and taste to see how you’d like to adjust the flavors.
Third, the noodle and veggies to your liking. Blanche the vegetables just until likely cooked, bokchoy will take probably 1 minute or so. Cook the noodle of your choice. Drain both n a colander, you don’t want extra water in your broth!
Assemble the noodle and vegetables in a large deep bowl. Spoon over the broth, sprinkle some chopped green scallion bits and drizzle as much chili garlic oil as you like. Enjoy!
scallions