Shortcut Shoyu Ramen
⬇ Jump to recipeMy eldest came home from a school trip last spring and announced, with the confidence only a twelve-year-old can muster, that she was "basically a ramen expert now." She had eaten one bowl. One. But it was apparently a life-changing bowl, and for weeks every dinner I put on the table was quietly compared to it.
Proper ramen broth takes a day and a stockpot the size of a bathtub. I have neither. What I do have is a carton of decent chicken stock, a knob of ginger, and a few pantry tricks that get you surprisingly close in under an hour. When I finally set this bowl down in front of her, she took a sip, paused for dramatic effect, and said, "Okay. That's actually good." I'll take it.
The shortcut broth
The secret is layering. Store-bought stock gets simmered with charred onion, ginger, garlic and a strip of kombu if you have one, then finished with a tare — a concentrated seasoning of soy sauce, mirin and a splash of sesame oil — that goes in the bottom of each bowl. Keeping the tare separate means every bowl is seasoned perfectly, and the leftover broth stays plain for other uses.
💡 Marisol's tip: make the soy eggs the night before. Six and a half minutes, ice bath, peel, then into a zip bag with soy, mirin and water. They're unbeatable after 8 hours.
Toppings, your way
We set everything out and let people build their own: crispy mushrooms, scallions, corn, bean sprouts, a sheet of nori, a spoon of chili crisp. It's dinner and entertainment in one, and it means the picky eater can skip the sprouts without a negotiation.
Shortcut Shoyu Ramen
A layered, savory weeknight broth with soy eggs and crispy mushrooms.
Ingredients
- Broth
- 2 L low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 onion, halved and charred
- 5 cm ginger, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 strip kombu (optional)
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
- Tare (per 4 bowls)
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- Bowls
- 4 portions fresh ramen noodles
- 4 soy-marinated soft eggs
- 200 g mushrooms, sliced and pan-crisped
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- Corn, nori, chili crisp, to serve
Instructions
- Char the onion halves cut-side down in a dry pot over high heat until blackened, about 4 minutes.
- Add the stock, ginger, garlic, kombu and dried shiitake. Bring to a bare simmer and cook for 25 minutes. Remove the kombu after 10 minutes so it doesn't turn bitter.
- Meanwhile, crisp the sliced mushrooms in a hot pan with a little oil until deeply browned. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Whisk the tare ingredients together and divide between 4 deep bowls.
- Strain the broth. Cook the noodles according to the package, usually 2–3 minutes, then drain well.
- Ladle about 400 ml of hot broth into each bowl and stir into the tare. Add the noodles, then top with halved eggs, mushrooms, scallions and any extras. Serve immediately.
Notes
Vegetarian: use vegetable stock and double the dried shiitake for depth.
Storage: broth freezes well for up to 3 months. Store noodles and toppings separately.
Salt: taste the broth with the tare before serving; brands of soy sauce vary a lot.
Nutrition (per bowl)
| Calories | 512 |
| Protein | 24 g |
| Carbohydrates | 68 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
| Sodium | 1,820 mg |
Estimate only, varies with toppings and stock.
Comments (3)
Charring the onion makes such a difference. Our new Friday night thing.
Made the veggie version with extra shiitake — rich and savory. The soy eggs vanished in minutes.
They always do! I've started making a dozen at a time.