Shoyu Ramen

Broth

1. Heat a medium or large pot over medium heat and add the sesame oil.
2. Once hot, sauté the garlic and ginger until aromatic, around 1-2 minutes.
3. Add in the vegetable broth, dried mushrooms and kombu.
4. Add the sake, soy sauces and sugar.
5. Cover the pot and leave the broth to boil over medium/high heat, around 5-8 minutes. Once it boils, leave to simmer over medium heat for the remaining time, around 20 minutes, while you prepare the toppings and noodles.
6. When the kombu and mushrooms are tender, remove from the soup. I let mine cool for a few minutes before thinly slicing. I added the kombu as a topping for my ramen.

Mushroom ‘Char Siu’

1. While the broth is simmering, heat a small or medium non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add in the sesame oil, soy sauce, sake/mirin and sugar. Leave to cook over low to medium heat and mix continuously until the sugar starts to dissolve.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, add in the mushrooms. Mix the mushrooms to coat in the sugary glaze.
4. Leave the mushrooms to cook down for 4-5 minutes until tender.
5. You can turn up the heat to medium/high heat and leave the mushrooms untouched to get them golden brown — keep an eye on them as they can easily burn.
6. Once golden brown throughout, turn off the heat and then set the mushrooms aside for topping later on.

Noodles

1. I use fresh instant ramen noodles that come vacuum sealed. These can be blanched in the hot broth to separate the noodle ‘cakes’ and don’t require boiling as they’re already chewy enough to be added to the soup.
2. If you’re using dried noodles or another type of noodles, follow the package instructions since some types of noodles can make the broth starchy if cooked directly in it. I would recommend cooking dry noodles in a separate pot of water until they’re still very chewy and then running them through water quickly to rinse off any starch.
3. Once your noodles are ready, divide these into the 2 bowls.

Assembling the Ramen Bowls

Add the toppings of your choice to the noodles, pour over the soup. Top with chilli oil, sesame seeds and nori sheets (if using).

Enjoy immediately while hot!