Miso Ramen Recipe – Japanese Cooking 101 (2024)

15In Noodle/ Soup/ Video

Miso Ramen (味噌ラーメン) is Ramen noodles in a Miso based soup that was created in Japanin the 1960s. Ramen noodles are originally Chinese style noodles, but it’s been changed and improved over the years, and evolved to be our own food. And Miso Ramen is the pinnacle of “Japanese” Ramen noodles, the king of all Ramen.

There are millions of Ramen restaurants in Japan, from mom and pop Chinese restaurants in neighborhoods, Ramen street carts open late at night, to sophisticated Ramen specialty shops in cities. People don’t mind lining up for hours to get in as long as it’s good. Fresh noodles are the best, but another form of Ramen that is very popular is instant noodles. It’s become a whole food sub-culture in Japan. There are many many kinds you can buy at supermarkets. Some are even so good that they taste better than bad Ramen shops.

There are two main components in Ramen: noodles and soup. The noodles are called Chinese style noodles (Chuka-men-中華麺), but these are really nothing like Chinese noodles anymore. They are wheat noodles with a firm and chewy texture. The texture is very important because the noodles are in hot soup while eating and might absorb too much soup and become too soft. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find good noodles outside Japan. We tested many kinds you can find in the US, but dried American Chuka-men you can buy at grocery stores are not so great. If you can find dried Chuka-men from Japan, or fresh Chuka-men, use that. We tried dried “thin” spaghetti (a little thinner than regular spaghetti) for our noodles this time instead of the fresh angel hair pasta used in our other Ramen recipe. We think that the texture of dried pasta is much firmer than fresh angel hair pasta. Whichever you use, the key is to boil the noodles in water with baking soda because that gives the noodles a distinct Ramen noodle flavor.

The other half of Ramen is the soup. Generally speaking, there are three basic types of Ramen soups: Shyoyu (soy sauce), Miso, and Shio (salt). Usually pork, chicken or seafood broth is used for the base of the soup, and that is then seasoned with soy sauce, miso, or salt. Here we used ground pork to make a soup base that is very easy and quick. And a very important ingredient for Miso Ramen: Miso Paste! It should be not white nor red Miso, but Awase (mixed) Miso. Also, usually Miso Ramen is a little spicy. You can use any kind of chili paste, but we used Tobanjan (Doubanjiang) Chinise chili paste made from fermented soy beans.

If you like our Ramen Recipe and want some variety, try this! You’ll like it!