College Cuisine: Miso Ramen

By Koby Parry

It’s cold outside, and nothing makes me feel better than a big, hot bowl of miso ramen. There are many different types of ramen, but miso ramen (in my opinion) tastes the best and is the easiest to make. Tonkotsu ramen is also amazing, but unless you want to spend 12 hours boiling bones, I’d recommend this recipe, which contains both the broth and my recommendations for toppings.

Miso Ramen

Flavor Ingredients

• ½ lb Ground Pork ~$4.62 ($4.62/lb)
• ½ tbsp Sesame Oil (or any neutral flavored oil) ~$3.22 ($0.64/fl oz)
• 1 tbsp Grated Ginger (or ginger paste) ~$0.90 ($3.58/lb)
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic ~$0.73 ($4.88/lb)
• 3 tbsp Miso Paste ~$6.16 ($0.23/oz)
• 1 tbsp Tobanjan (or any other garlic chili paste) ~$3.96 ($0.50/oz)
• 1 bunch of thinly sliced Green Onions ~$0.88

Broth Ingredients (Separate bowl)

• 3 cups Water
• 2 tbsp Chicken Broth Powder (or bouillon cube; follow package instructions) ~$5.98 ($0.19/oz)
• 1 tbsp Tsuyu (or 3 tbsp soy sauce) ~$3.44 ($0.28/oz)
• 1 tbsp Sugar ~$2.12 ($0.11/oz)
• 1 tbsp Salt ~$0.72 ($0.03/oz)

Toppings — Pick and choose your own

• Soft boiled eggs
• Bean sprout
• Pork Belly
• Chashu (marinated, braised pork belly)
• Nori (sliced dried seaweed)
• Rayu (spicy sesame oil)
• Sliced green onions
• Minced garlic
• Sliced cabbage
• Chili paste
• Corn

Grand total: ~$32.73

Recipe total: ~$7.13

Notes:

Ingredients

A few of these ingredients are hard to find around here (like Tsuyu), so I’ve given substitute options that are much easier to find. It will be a little different, but it will still be good.

Miso paste is very important and can’t be substituted in this recipe, but it is more commonly found in grocery stores than Tsuyu. It could be in the international section or the refrigerated section so check both. Any Asian market should have miso paste, and if it doesn’t, leave and never go back. You can find white miso paste in the international section at the Kroger in Lexington. It will be near the top shelf.

Toppings

I wouldn’t recommend putting every single one of these things in your ramen — just pick the things you like the most or the things that you can find. I prefer eggs, chashu, bean sprouts, green onions, rayu, and chili paste, but some of those things are much more difficult to find or make. How to make these will be explained at the end of the article.

Image includes sliced cabbage, a soft-boiled egg, rayu, and green onions. This is also a very small bowl for ramen. Photo credit to Koby Parry

Broth

1. Add all of your broth ingredients to a large bowl, and stir to combine.

Set a large pot over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom of the pot with the sesame oil, then add all of the flavor ingredients, and mix until combined.

2. Once the flavor ingredients become fragrant, add your broth to the pot, stir, then let simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.

3. Serve with your choice of noodles and toppings.

Noodles

1. Follow package instructions for your preferred ramen noodles. If people request it, I will post a recipe for handmade noodles, but I’m warning you now: it’s a pain unless you have a super expensive stand mixer along with its super expensive (and specific) attachment.

Toppings

• Soft-boiled eggs: boil an egg for 6 ½ minutes, then immediately place in ice water. If you’d like, you can marinate them in a soy sauce and sugar marinade overnight.
• Bean sprouts: In a lightly oiled pan, fry your bean sprouts over medium heat until translucent. They will reduce a lot (kind of like spinach).
• Pork belly: Slice the pork belly into quarter-inch thick slices (if not already sliced), season with salt, then sear over high heat.
• Chashu: This takes hours. I wouldn’t recommend doing this on your first attempt at ramen, but you can find recipes online. This is a recipe on its own, and if requested, I will post a recipe for it and link it here.
• Nori: Buy sheets of dried seaweed and cut them into desired sizes.
• Rayu: Buy it. It is very hard to find in this area.
• Sliced green onions: Just don’t cut yourself.
• Minced garlic: See instructions above.
• Sliced cabbage: See instructions above. This can act as a substitute for bean sprouts.
• Chili paste: Buy it.
• Corn: Follow package instructions. If using corn on the cob, follow package instructions (or boil it if fresh) then slice off the kernels.

Note: The broth can be stored in the fridge for a week, or frozen for several months.

If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to check out the other ones we already have posted! And be sure to check back regularly for our new weekly recipes!