Hot and sour dashi ramen
Item 1 of 1
- medium
- 4
- 2 hours
This vegan ramen is packed with fiery, tangy, uplifting flavours, thanks to the combination of umami-rich and chilli-heavy broth, braised tofu and pickled shiitake mushrooms.
You'll need to make the dashi a few days in advance, as it needs time to extract all the deep, savoury flavours from the kombu and mushrooms, but this requires very little hands-on time. Whether you're following a plant-based diet or not, this is an incredible bowl of flavour that you'll be coming back to again and again.
First published in 2020
Ingredients
Metric
Imperial
Hot and sour dashi
- 30g of kombu, soaked in water overnight
- 10g of dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1.5l water
- 1 tsp salt
- 20g of caster sugar
- 50g of Chinese red vinegar, Larkin uses Tung Chun brand
- 2 tbsp of toban djan chilli bean sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of chilli oil
Tofu
- 500g of firm tofu, in a single block
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Pickling liquor
- 200ml of rice vinegar
- 200ml of water
- 50g of caster sugar
To serve
- 360g of ramen noodles, fresh
- 1 bunch of spring onion greens, finely cut into strips and kept in iced water to curl up
- 1 handful of beansprouts
SAVE RECIPE
Method
1
Begin by making the dashi 2 days before you plan to serve. Drain the soaked kombu and place in a saucepan with the water. Bring the water to 60°C and hold at that temperature for 30 minutes
- 30g of kombu, soaked in water overnight
- 1.5l water
2
Meanwhile, break the stalks off the dried shiitake mushrooms and reserve. Once the kombu has been cooking in the water for 30 minutes, remove it and discard, then add the heads of the dried shiitake mushrooms and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat, skim any scum from the surface of the water and add the reserved stalks. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge to infuse overnight
- 10g of dried shiitake mushrooms
3
The next day, bring all the pickling liquor ingredients to the boil in a saucepan then allow to cool. Remove the soaked shiitake mushrooms from the dashi (but leave the stalks in there) and add them to the pickling liquid. Leave overnight in the fridge to pickle
- 200ml of rice vinegar
- 200ml of water
- 50g of caster sugar
4
On the day you plan to serve the dish, deep-fry the tofu as a single large block in the vegetable oil at 160°C for 10 minutes – be careful, as the oil will spit. Once crisp, drain the tofu on kitchen paper and cut into cubes
- vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- 500g of firm tofu, in a single block
5
Place the tofu cubes, carrot and tomato in a large saucepan and pour over the vegetable dashi (pour the dashi through a sieve so the stalks don’t end up in the broth). Place over a low-medium heat and gently cook for 30 minutes, to allow the tofu to absorb the flavours of the dashi
- 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 large tomato, roughly chopped
6
When ready to serve, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Strain the hot dashi into a clean saucepan (reserving the tofu but discarding the tomato and carrot), then mix in the rest of the ingredients for the dashi. Cook over a medium heat to ensure all the ingredients are combined
- 1 tsp salt
- 20g of caster sugar
- 50g of Chinese red vinegar, Larkin uses Tung Chun brand
- 2 tbsp of toban djan chilli bean sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of chilli oil
7
Divide the hot broth between 4 bowls, then quickly blanch the ramen noodles in the boiling water – this should take no longer than 5 seconds if they are fresh. Immediately drain the noodles and place into the bowls to stop them congealing
- 360g of ramen noodles, fresh
8
Place the braised tofu, pickled shiitake mushrooms, beansprouts and spring onions on top of the noodles and serve immediately
- 1 handful of beansprouts
- 1 bunch of spring onion greens, finely cut into strips and kept in iced water to curl up
First published in 2020
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