How to make ramen from scratch
Ditch the sad little Styrofoam cups, the microwave, and the tiny cubes of dehydrated vegetables. Ditch the MSG and all of the hard-to-pronounce chemical preservatives. Today you’re going to learn how to make ramen from scratch, and trust me, you’ll never want to go back!
There are many different ramen recipes out there. If this one had a name, it would probably be called miso ramen. It is sure to satisfy your taste buds and warm your bones on a cold day. However, you may choose to eat it all year round like I do!
Chicken Broth Benefits
This ramen-from-scratch recipe is made with chicken broth which offers so many health benefits to you! In the future, I plan to write an article about chicken broth benefits, but I will only summarize the key points for today because I know you want to get to the recipe!
- The minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and essential fatty acids in chicken broth help build strong bones.
- The amino acids in chicken broth fight inflammation which can help boost your immune system and protect you from sickness and disease. (This is why people eat chicken soup when they are sick. It’s more than a comfort food. It has healing powers!)
- The amino acids in chicken broth support healthy joints and can protect you from osteoarthritis.
- The amino acid, glycine, found in chicken broth is a natural sleep aid. In addition, it can help improve memory and brain health.
- Chicken broth promotes healthy digestion due to its gelatin content. It can protect against bowel disease and leaky gut.
- The gelatin in chicken broth can make you feel full, which can lead to a reduction in calorie intake while still getting essential vitamins and nutrients. Drinking chicken broth daily can help you lose weight.
- Chicken broth contains collagen. In addition, it helps your body produce collagen, which is essential for skin elasticity and looking young!
How to Make Ramen From Scratch
Utensils:
You will need a pressure cooker to make the best chicken broth for this ramen recipe!
Ingredients:
Use organic ingredients for better health and better flavor!
These measurements are approximate. I don’t measure when I’m cooking. I only provided measurements to give you an idea of how to make this recipe. You can mix up the measurements however you like. Taste your broth mixture before adding the veggies and chicken to it! Adjust as needed!
- 1 whole chicken (raised without artificial growth hormones)
- 1/2 an onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- Vegetables of choice: I used bok choy, carrots, and shitake mushrooms. However, you may choose whatever vegetables you like in the amounts that you like.
- 2 tablespoons of canola oil (enough to cook the onions and garlic)
- 3 tablespoons of shoyu (or soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons of white or yellow miso
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
- Noodles of choice. In the picture of the finished ramen I used rice vermicelli noodles and they were amazing! When I ran out of those, I used some soba noodles. They were good, but not as good as the vermicelli. It’s all about preference. You can find a great, organic, Asian noodle selection at a natural grocery store.
- 1 egg
- Chili flakes, red pepper flakes, dulse flakes, etc. This is all about preference too!
Ramen with Soba Noodles
Rinse your chicken and remove giblets from the inside if there are any! Put the chicken in the Instant Pot and fill it with clean water to the fill line. There is no need to season the broth because you will do that later. I like to pressure cook the broth plain so I can give some to our dog! I also cook the giblets separately for our dog!
Pressure cook the chicken on high for 2 hours. This will give you tender chicken and magical broth!
While the pressure cooker is going, chop your veggies, keeping the onions and garlic separate from the rest.
When the pressure cooker is done, carefully release the steam. Make sure to stand back when doing this. The steam is powerful and dangerous! Separate the chicken from the broth by straining the broth into another pot. Pressure-cooked chicken is so tender, it slides off the bone!
Cook the onions and garlic in canola oil on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until some of them have browned as shown in the picture below.
Mix in the miso and shoyu, (or soy sauce), reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 3 minutes stirring the ingredients until well-blended.
Add mirin to the miso mixture and simmer on low heat for 2 minutes. The cork broke on this mirin bottle, and we don’t have a corkscrew, so I had to get creative!
Add 4 cups of broth to the mixture and cook on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir well to make sure the flavors mix together. Taste the broth. If it has too much flavor, add more plain broth. If it has too little flavor, add more miso or soy sauce. This all comes down to preference!
Put a small amount of your broth into a pot, add your chopped veggies and chicken, and simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. This is the optimal time to cook your vegetables without making them too soft, but that is all about preference too.
In a separate pot, heat clean water to boiling and put some noodles in. Add a teaspoon of cooking oil to the water and stir so the noodles don’t stick. Check the instructions on the package for cooking time, but also check the noodles throughout cooking! The noodles should be slightly sticky. Eat one to find out if it’s done. Do not overcook! I used about half of this 8-ounce package for one serving.
Remember that noodles are a matter of preference. You can use whatever kind you like best.
After the noodles have cooked, remove them from the water either with tongs or by straining. You can use the noodle water to boil your egg since it is already hot. Place the noodles in your ramen bowl, and boil an egg in the water for about 6 minutes. Peeling the egg under cold running water makes the shell come off easily.
Add the hot broth with vegetables and chicken to the bowl of noodles and set the egg on top. Sprinkle with chili flakes, chili powder, dulse, or whatever else you like. Enjoy your beautiful ramen. Eat with seaweed snacks for more flavor!