Preamble

These words are being written the night before my finals exam. Instead of cramming for the exams that decide the fate of my long, hard, five year degree, I’m writing about vegan ramen. If I know how to do anything it’s how to procrastinate.

Prep and cooking

The prep for this dish is really simple, potentially even simpler than the miso noodle soup I posted about. All that’s required is to slice two onions, caramelise them in oil, and I like to add brown sugar for a bit of oomph.

Once you have a soft, gooey mess of caramelising onions, the rest is only a five minut job. Add a chilli, veg stock - bring to boil, then in goes the miso, sake and soy sauce.

Ramen noodles can be bought fresh, dried or frozen. I have a 1kg packet of dried ramen noodles that only cost about £2, and only take 4 minutes of boiling to render edible. If you’re not fussy, then I reckon any soft noodle would work.

Pro-tip: Be slow and gentle when caramelising your onions, and add a bit of sugar to kick start the process (cheating really, but heyho). I cranked the heat up too high one time and instead of caramelising, my onions just kinda fried and burnt - it made a good topping though.

Substitutions

A quick note on a few subs I made.
Instead of using sake, I used some shiaoxing cooking wine that I already had.
Instead of the Choi Sum, I reckon you can use any mildly firm green, or even baby spinach.
Noodles - Any noodle would probably work here, though err on the thinner side of noodles, not some big fat udon.

Taste

This tasted good man. This tasted so good. This is what I’ve come to expect from ramen. Whereas the noodle soup was light, this ramen was thick, rich and creamy, a palate coater. The caramelised onions add a sweet note to the whole dish, and much of the body and richness of this dish; while miso adds some much needed funk and rounds off the whole dish, and the chilli oil provides a subtle note of spice to let you know it’s still there.

Verdict

This is a win. You know how I know it’s a win? Because in between the time I made it for the first time and writing this post, I’ve made it again. The second time I remade it, I used some homemade chicken/hen stock and oh boy, we’re in gelatinous heaven. I could eat this again and again and be happy.

The simplicity, the cheapness, the tastiness. This is a ramen recipe to rival any other “noodle soup” recipe I’ve tried. This recipe challenges everything I knew/thought about the complexity of ramen. I do still want to try some complicated recipes, but I just need to save some time and money to make it all.

You can find the recipe here: Meera Sodha’s Vegan Caramelised Onion Ramen

Post-amble(?)

I’m going to be frank here. Whenever I see a vegan recipe, I usually sigh. For a lifestyle that portrays itself as raw and accessible, the next best thing for the environment, an awful lot of vegan recipes from big bloggers contain frivolous ingredients that are difficult/impractical to source. I have nothing against vegans or vegan food, and I commend them, it’s just the nonsensical ingredients/substitutions that put me off. It makes the barrier for entry seem high for a lot of people.

I have the viewpoint that vegetarian/vegan food needn’t be prepared as a substitute for meat or anything else, rather it should be prepared as its own food. Enjoyed for what it is and not what it imitates.

I do commend those bloggers/food writers though for creativity when it comes to using ingredients. It is a talent, and a difficult one at that. I just prefer simpler preparations I guess.

I hope you can understand my excitement, when I saw an easy and simple vegan recipe. One for ramen no less. Finding an easy ramen recipe has been a challenge. Looking for recipes online yields a lot of authentic recipes that involve a lot of pork, a lot of simmering and a lot of niche ingredients - all of which are a no-go. This recipe, however, only needed me to buy miso and some chilli oil - stuff I’ve used oodles of time since. No regrets at all.