Savory, rich, filled to the brim with lip-smacking, noodle slurping, umami yummy-liciousness! Dearest noodle lovers, we're making a bowl of veggie ramen noodles today for all those plant lovers out there! A bowl of chewy but firm ramen noodles topped with meaty aromatic shrooms and just cooked tender veggies, nestled in a hot and savory umami packed veggie soup. M oh man, we love us our noodles!
The start of this particular bowl of ramen noodles started with our attempt to make fresh homemade ramen. Check our post here on how to make homemade ramen. Turns out that ramen is fun to make as well as being super yummy when fresh! Lightly and hopefully charmingly dusted from head to toe with flour, we had our fresh homemade ramen noodles, yay!
Of course there isn't a need to make homemade ramen as there is a ton of quality refrigerated fresh ramen in the asian supermarkets nowadays. Or get it online here.
We decided that our first bowl of homemade ramen was going to be an homage to veggie-liciousness!
Naturally the first thing that came to mind was shrooms, shrooms, shrooms! What can I say? The world of mushrooms is a wide, wild and wonderful world that invites exploring. And each area on this earth has its own amazing shrooms. How cool is that?
In HK we have a lot of asian shrooms so for our ramen bowl we decided to use the following three mushrooms: enoki mushroom, shitake mushroom and chestnut royale mushroom. Enoki for their delicate, slightly sweet flavor and subtle crunch. Fresh shitake for their intense meaty umami punch. Chestnut royale mushrooms have the cutest shape with an end like a sharpened pencil and a nutty, buttery flavor. Nom, nom, shroomy nom...
Feel totally free to try different shrooms and combination of shrooms. You never know what kind shroomy-liciousness you will discover. For example, check out this great mushroom sampler chef's pack, five different kinds of shrooms in one pack!
For a vegetable we opted for a leafy green. Leafy greens are veggies that are light and quickly cooked, retaining a bit crunch. We settled on this Japanese leafy green called komatsuna which is a mustard spinach with a sweet and slightly spicy bite. You could use any quick cooking veggie that you prefer.
For leafy veggies remember to give them a good rinse two or three times to wash out any sand or dirt that's lodged in between the leaves.
Don't forget the aromatics, important for that final finishing boost of subtle flavor. We went with the ubiquitous spring onion and ginger duo. Spring onion for their mellow pungency that pairs so well with savory and ginger for that spicy warm kick.
Mind you that while both these aromatics will need to be shredded, the ginger (if using) especially needs to sliced to super duper thin slivers. Thick shreds of ginger are too spicy and texturally not pleasant on the palate.
Once your ramen is ready, your shrooms, veggies and aromatics prepped, then it's time for cooking. Cook your ramen first in boiling water. 'Ware of the cooking time as fresh ramen cooks really quick and you don't want to end up with mushy noodles :( Once the noodles are al dente remove at once from the water and divide into the serving bowls.
In a separate pot the stock is used to cook the shroom and veggies. Add the shrooms first as they will take longer to cook. Cook the veggies briefly until bright green and just tender. Place the cooked veggies and shrooms nicely over the noodles, top with aromatics and, finally, ladle the soup over all. The hot soup will cook the aromatics just enough to release their fragant oils.
At this point...ohmygoodness...the aroma rising from this bowl of Mushroom Ramen Soup Noodles! Chewy but firm ramen noodles, tender bright greens, chewy, savory and meaty shrooms, all to be slurped up with mouthfuls of hot umami flavored soup. Oh so yummy-licious, dear readers! Who the heck needs meat, amirite?
Vegetarian Mushroom Ramen Soup Noodles 素食蘑菇湯拉麵
(serves 4) Prep time: 7 mins Cook time: 10 mins
Ingredients:
- 4 portions fresh ramen noodles (homemade recipe here)
- 1/2 cup enoki mushrooms
- 4 fresh shitake mushrooms
- 1 cup chestnut royale mushrooms
- 2 cups leafy vegetables
- 1 sprig spring onion
- 1 slice fresh ginger (optional)
- 8 cups vegetable stock
Directions:
Make the ramen (optional): If you're making homemade ramen prepare it first using our homemade ramen recipe. You can make it the day before, wrap it and keep it in the fridge. Or just buy your fresh ramen at your local asian grocer.
Prepare the veggies: Soak the leafy vegetables in a couple of changes of water. Strain water out and separate the leaves. Cut off any mushroom ends that still have peat on them (may or may not be the case). Separate enoki mushrooms to bite sized pieces. Cut the stems of the shitake mushroom off and slice to fourths.
Prepare the aromatics: Wash the spring onion. Slice to thin slivers or rounds. Slice the ginger slice to very thin slivers.
Cook the ramen: Boil a pot of water. Add the fresh ramen and cook for 30 secs to 1 min. If using store bought ramen follow the instructions on the package for cooking the noodles. The noodles are done when al dente, test by eating a noodle. It should be firm and chewy and just cooked all the way thru. Scoop the noodles out and portion out equally to four noodle bowls.
Cook the soup and veggies: Add stock to a new pot. Heat until simmering. Add all mushrooms and let cook for 6-8 mins or until tender. Add vegetables and further cook for around 1 minute or until the veggies turns green and is tender. Remove pot from heat.
Plate up noodle bowls: Place cooked mushrooms and vegetables in an attractive pattern on top of the cooked noodles in the serving bowls. Sprinkle spring onion and ginger slivers (if using) over noodles. Ladle soup in equal portions into the bowls. Serve hot and enjoy!
Nom Nom Noodle-licious at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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