You can make my delicious Miso Ramen with authentic broth at home in less than 30 minutes! Add optional ramen eggs and chashu (Japanese braised pork belly) or customize it with your favorite toppings. It‘s a piping-hot bowl of soulful goodness that‘s sure to satisfy your ramen cravings.
When you’re in Japan, you will quickly learn that there are 3 basic ramen flavors: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), and miso (fermented soybean paste).
If you’re wondering about the tonkotsu ramen, that’s actually a type of broth base and the tonkotsu means a pork bone broth. If you’re interested in learning more about ramen, read our Japanese Ramen Guide for Beginners.
Today we’ll make the popular and my favorite, Miso Ramen (味噌ラーメン).
Learn How to Make Miso Ramen at Home
Ramen consists of 3 components: soup, noodles, and toppings. In this post, I’ll go over each topic in detail.
Part 1: Ramen Soup スープ
Although the Japanese enjoy eating ramen at ramen shops, it is common for Japanese moms to make ramen at home. Making good ramen soup from scratch requires a lot of time and effort, so most households use packaged ramen which includes 2-3 servings of fresh noodles and a concentrated soup base.
In this recipe, instead of spending many hours making the ramen soup base, I’ll show you how to make a delicious ramen soup that takes just 15 minutes. Best of all, it tastes much better than the soup base that comes with the package.
In case you’re wondering, the soup for miso ramen is not the “miso soup” made from dashi and miso paste.
Below, I explain the ingredients for Miso Ramen soup. I do not recommend skipping or substituting the following ingredients because each ingredient plays an important role. As a result, you get a rich and intensely savory bowl of miso ramen that will greatly satisfy your cravings.
5 Key Ingredients for Quick Miso Ramen Soup
- Miso
- Doubanjiang (spicy or non-spicy bean paste)
- Sesame seeds and sesame oil
- Homemade or store-bought chicken broth
- White pepper powder
1. Miso
Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste, and it’s one of the essential condiments in Japanese cooking. If you are new to miso, I highly recommend taking a look at my Miso pantry page.
Based on the type of miso and the brand that makes it, the flavor of miso varies. In most cases, there is no type or brand that is better or worse, except for your preference. I personally love Hikari Miso® and you will see me using this brand exclusively on my blog.
For miso ramen, use any miso type except for hatcho miso or saikyo miso. My favorite miso is kodawattemasu (see below).
2. Doubanjiang: Spicy or Non-Spicy Bean Paste (Sauce)
The key condiment in this recipe is doubanjiang (豆板醤) or spicy bean paste, a combination of fermented broad beans as the main ingredient, soybeans, and often hot chilies. The salty, savory, umami-rich paste adds an incredible depth and character to the broth that you should not substitute. You can add more if you like your soup to be spicy, but one teaspoon would be enough to give it a good kick.
Non-Spicy Doubanjiang: Did you know that there is NON-SPICY doubanjiang? Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Guandong in China have non-spicy doubanjiang. It has the same savory depth in the paste, but without the heat.
To distinguish the two versions, the Sichuan doubanjiang is called la-doubanjiang (辣豆瓣醬, “la” (辣) meaning ‘hot’ or ‘spicy’).
When the kids were small, I use only non-spicy doubanjiang to make my Mapo Tofu and Miso Ramen. Taiwanese brands like Kangshan (岡山) (above) and Ming Teh (明德) offer the doubanjiang made from fermented broad beans and soybeans, and they usually have both spicy and nonspicy versions.
You can get these Taiwanese brands at a local Chinese grocery store. Amazon does not sell the non-spicy doubanjiang at this time (please let me know if you find one).
- Ming Teh Doubanjiang (non-spicy)
- Kangshan Doubanjiang (non-spicy) – Walmart
- Kangshang Doubanjiang (non-spicy) – Weee!
Doubanjiang Substitute: If you really can’t find doubanjiang, you can use gochujang (Korean chili paste; spicy) or doenjang (Korean soybean paste; non-spicy). However, the ingredients are slightly different and have different flavor profiles.
3. Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil
Sesame flavor in this recipe is prominent as both sesame seeds and oil make the broth nuttier and richer, adding a nice aroma and flavor to the ramen soup.
Japanese households always have a set of suribachi (mortar) and surikogi (pestle) to grind sesame seeds, but if you don’t have one, you can crush the sesame seeds with a food processor (or a coffee bean grinder).
The type of sesame oil you need is dark roasted sesame oil. It has a deep flavor of sesame and only 1 tablespoon would give plenty of fragrance to the soup.
4. Homemade or Store Bought Chicken Broth
For a richer and more flavorful broth, homemade chicken stock is best. But it’s okay to use store-bought broth to make ramen soup if you don’t have the time.
I like chicken stock from Trader Joe’s. Use less sodium stock and adjust the salt according to your liking. Remember, some chicken stock can be saltier, so you always have to taste your soup before adding salt.
5. White Pepper Powder
I believe white pepper powder is a magical spice in Chinese-style soups and fried rice. Just a few sprinkles of white pepper will elevate the flavor and add a nice kick without the spiciness. You can find white pepper powder in Asian grocery stores or specialty spice shops.
FAQs for Ramen Soup
Do we need to add sugar?
Sugar is not added to sweeten the dish, but it is there to counter the saltiness of miso and doubanjiang (fermented bean paste). Try adding 1 teaspoon at a time and taste the soup before adding more.
Do we need to use sake?
Unless you can’t use it due to religious reasons, I strongly recommend using sake in Japanese cooking. Sake is an essential ingredient such as soy sauce and mirin in Japanese cooking. In this recipe, sake removes the unwanted smell from the meat and adds a subtle sweetness and umami to the soup. The best substitute would be dry sherry and Chinese rice wine.
Part 2: Ramen Noodles 麺
Ramen noodles are made from four basic ingredients: wheat flour, salt, water, and kansui (かん水, saltwater). Kansui is a type of alkaline mineral water, containing sodium carbonate and usually potassium carbonate, and sometimes a small amount of phosphoric acid. Although the color of the ramen noodles is yellowish, they are not egg noodles.
1. Fresh Noodles
Ideally, fresh ramen noodles are the best. My favorite ramen noodles are from Sun Noodles, and I usually make my own soup instead of the soup base that comes with the package.
Fresh noodles are available in the refrigerated section of Japanese grocery stores and some Asian grocery stores. Some stores may keep the fresh ramen noodles in the freezer, so don’t forget to check both sections.
Fresh gluten-free ramen noodles can be purchased from Kobayashi Seimen. They are made from rice and taste very similar to fresh ramen noodles.
2. Dried Noodles
For those who don’t have access to fresh ramen noodles, you can use dried noodles. I’ve tried HIME Japanese ramen noodles (you can purchase them on Amazon) and they are pretty good.
3 Tips for Cooking Ramen Noodles
There are three important tips I want to share with you when cooking ramen noodles.
- Boil the ramen noodles in a big pot of water.
- Do not salt the water like pasta.
- Ramen noodles cook really fast. So make sure to prepare everything ahead of time. Once the noodles are cooked, you have to serve the ramen fast—in less than 30 seconds!
Part 3: Ramen Toppings トッピング
Choices are yours. Here are 7 toppings I added to this Miso Ramen recipe. Even though you would spend less than 30 minutes preparing the ramen on the day of eating, I do spend one day, usually the previous day, preparing my ramen toppings.
Main Toppings
- Chashu – braised pork belly
- Ramen Egg (Ajitsuke Tamago) – eggs marinated in soy sauce base sauce
- Menma (Seasoned Bamboo Shoots)
- Shiraga Negi – julienned white negi/leeks
- Narutomaki (Japanese fish cakes)
- Sweet corn
- Chopped green onion
- Nori seaweed
Other Topping Ideas:
- Wakame seaweed
- Blanched Bean Sprout (or spicy version)
- Blanched greens (bok choy, spinach, etc.)
- Thinly sliced butter (to make it “miso butter ramen”)
- Or anything you like, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, vegetables such as bean sprouts, garlic chives, etc
Now that you have the template on how to make the best miso ramen at home, it’s time to impress yourself or someone you love with your bowl of ramen goodness. It’s really simple, and dare I say more gratifying than the bowl from your ramen joint!
More Ramen Recipes You’ll Love
- Vegetarian Ramen (with an amazingly rich & creamy broth)
- Spicy Shoyu Ramen
- Tsukemen (Dipping Ramen)
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Miso Ramen
Video
Ingredients
For the Soup Broth
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ tsp ginger (grated)
- 1 shallot
- 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- ¼ lb ground pork (use meat alternatives or chopped mushrooms for vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 tsp doubanjiang (spicy chili bean paste) (use the spicy or non-spicy type or gluten-free doubanjiang)
- 3 Tbsp miso (most types will work except Saikyo and Hatcho varieties; each type will create a slightly different broth flavor)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 4 cups chicken stock/broth (use vegetable stock for vegan/vegetarian)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (to taste)
- ¼ tsp white pepper powder
For the Ramen Noodles
- 2 servings fresh ramen noodles (10–12 oz (283–340 g) fresh noodles or 6.3 oz (180 g) dry ramen noodles; for gluten-free, use GF ramen noodles)
For the Toppings (optional)
- Homemade Chashu (Japanese Braised Pork Belly) (make my Chashu at least a day in advance or buy it premade at a Japanese market; skip for vegan/vegetarian)
- Spicy Bean Sprout Salad (or blanched bean sprouts)
- Ramen Egg (Ajitsuke Tamago) (make my Ramen Eggs at least a day in advance; skip for vegan; slice in half lengthwise to serve)
- frozen or canned corn (drained)
- nori (dried laver seaweed) (cut a sheet into quarters)
- green onion/scallion (chopped)
- Shiraga Negi (julienned long green onions)
For the Condiments (optional)
- la-yu (Japanese chili oil) (make my Homemade La-yu)
- pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga)
- white pepper powder
Instructions
Before You Start…
- Prepare the ramen toppings ahead of time—a day in advance for the Homemade Chashu (Japanese Braised Pork Belly) and Ramen Egg (Ajitsuke Tamago)—so they‘re ready to serve with your piping-hot bowl of ramen.
- For toppings, I add chashu, ramen egg, blanched bean sprouts (or Spicy Bean Sprout Salad), frozen or canned corn, Shiraga Negi (julienned long green onions), chopped green onion/scallion, and a sheet of nori (dried laver seaweed). You can find their recipes in the hyperlinks. For the optional condiments, prepare a bottle of la-yu (Japanese chili oil), pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga), and some white pepper powder on the table.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Mince or press 2 cloves garlic (I use a garlic press) and add to a small plate. Then, grate the ginger (I use a ceramic grater) and add ½ tsp ginger (grated) to the plate.
- Mince 1 shallot and add to the plate and set these three prepared ingredients aside.
- Grind 1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds, leaving some seeds unground for texture. Set aside.
To Make the Soup Broth
- Preheat a medium pot over medium-low heat. When it‘s hot, add 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil. Then, add the garlic, ginger, and shallot.
- With a wooden spatula, stir-fry until fragrant.
- Add ¼ lb ground pork and increase the heat to medium. Cook the meat until it‘s no longer pink.
- Add 1 tsp doubanjiang (spicy chili bean paste) and 3 Tbsp miso. Quickly blend well with the meat before they get burnt.
- Add the ground sesame seeds and 1 Tbsp sugar and mix well.
- Add 1 Tbsp sake and 4 cups chicken stock/broth and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Taste your soup and add up to 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (if necessary) and ¼ tsp white pepper powder. Tip: Each brand of chicken stock varies in saltiness, so you must taste your soup to decide how much salt to add.
- Your soup broth is now done. Cover with the lid and keep the soup broth simmering while you cook the noodles.
To Prepare the Ramen Noodles
- Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a boil (ramen noodles already include salt in the dough). When the water is boiling, ladle some of the hot water into the individual ramen bowls to warm them up. Meanwhile, gently shake 2 servings fresh ramen noodles with your hand to separate and loosen them up.
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. I usually cook the noodles al dente (about 15 seconds less than the suggested cooking time). Before your noodles are done cooking, empty the hot water from the warmed ramen bowls.
- When the noodles are done, quickly pick them up with a mesh sieve and shake out the excess water. Make sure to drain the water well, as you don’t want it to dilute your soup. Serve the noodles into the warmed bowls.
To Serve
- Add the piping-hot ramen soup broth to each bowl.
- Place the toppings of your choice on the ramen noodles and serve immediately. Add the optional condiments to your Miso Ramen and enjoy.
To Store
- You can keep the soup broth in the refrigerator for 3 days. Cook the noodles right before serving.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2011. New video and photos are added in September 2014. The video and images have been updated in May 2019. The post has been republished in February 2022.
I love your website and your recipes, there are easy to make and delicious 🙂 Warm regards 🙂
Thank you Karo! Your site is beautiful too! 🙂
Hi Nami,
This recipe looks so delicious and I would love to try it soon. I only have one question about chicken stock. Do you use boxed chicken stock or homemade broth. Which brand of chicken stock do you use here if you use the boxed kind from store? Thank you so much!
Hi Maggie! I use a boxed chicken stock from Trader Joe’s. It’s not salty and tastes pretty good compared to all the chicken stock I’ve tried. 🙂
Great recipe, Nami! Very accessible and clear instructions, and an even better end result. I’ve caught the ramen bug now!
Thank you Adam! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🙂
i’m supposed to be on a carb diet, and i made this for my husband and kids. i live far away from any asian store/restaurant, so i have to work with what i’ve got. i use roast pork i bought from walmart (peppercorn and garlic), and since i don’t have ground pork on hand i ommitted it from the soup. but otherwise, it’s so tasty i blew up my diet and ate a bowlful complete with the noodles (i used cheap ramen noodles from walmart). worth it! thanks!
Hi Reney! Ohhh carb diet is SO HARD. I love rice, pasta, bread, noodles… 😀 I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe and felt it’s worth it! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Just made this for lunch! Delicious!!!
Hi Shay! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for letting me know! 🙂
I really like your recipes.
Recently I had the good idea to try making your miso ramen. Unfortunately I have some trouble finding the right ingredients here in Denmark, so I ended up substituting some of them. It still was a grand succes 🙂
All the best to you and your family.
PS. Yes, I am male. And, yes I can cook… (anyone who can read can cook!)
Hi Rene! Thanks so much for your kind feedback! What were the difficult ingredients? I always wonder what people have trouble finding in their country… 🙂 Nevertheless, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for writing!
And it’s awesome to hear you cook! I hope my son will enjoy cooking too! 😀
Mostly I have trouble finding the vegetables. But I usually can find some substitutions for that.
The Nori and Miso paste are easy to get in a supermarket here.
It probably doesn’t help that I live in the countryside far away from the big cities 🙂
Many of the asia stores I have visited seem to concentrate on thai food?
I just made this and it was amazing!!!! So incredibly flavorful! I’m so so happy that I can make this at home now when I’m craving ramen. Thanks so much!
Hi Gabrielle! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for your feedback! 🙂
Does it have to be ground pork or can it be any type of cut pork?
Hi Jonathan! Sure you can use any type of cut. Some miso ramen with tonkotsu (pork) base uses ground pork and serve the ground meat on top of ramen. So I used the same method here. 🙂
I’ve made a shoyu ramen completely from scratch a few times. While the is amazing, I don’t love spending 2 days on a recipe very often. I’m going to try this version tonight! Thank you for giving us an easy ramen recipe!
Hi Madeline! I understand. Your ramen must be so delicious though! 🙂 I also don’t have time to spend 2 days for ramen broth, so this is my go to ramen recipe and we really enjoy it. Hope you will like this recipe! 🙂
i made this with my wife. AMAZING so so good. everyone who tried it said it was the best Ramen they ever had. I used shinshu honzukuri miso which is top quality and so so good. thanks for this.
Hi Alex! I’m so happy to hear you (and everyone) enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying my recipe and writing your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi Nami!
I am sure you know by now based on all of the comments on this recipe and from your own experience, but this miso ramen is absolutely amazing!
I have made it twice now for dinner for my partner and I and we LOVE it, to the point where I will actually make this myself before I go to my favorite ramen place!
I am so glad to have stumbled upon your website. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and skills with us!
I look forward to trying your other recipes!
Thank you again!! ^_^
Hi Erica! I’m truly happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe as much as we do! It’s so simple to make, but it doesn’t lack of flavors considering how little time you spend! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m so happy to hear you two enjoyed it very much. 🙂 I’m glad you found my site too! I hope you find some other recipes that you are interested on my site. Thanks again! xo
My son recently completed a three year tour of Japan with the US Navy and fell in love with Ramen (he actually fell in love with it while in San Diego, but got the treat of his life while living about an hour+ west of Tokyo). Unlike most sailors who are in the 18-20 year old range and rarely leave the comfort of the base, he explored…and explored, and explored. Since his return, we’ve had Ramen several times, most to the delight of my palate. On my most recent visit with him in Austin, TX, we had two very good miso ramen meals. Though very identical in substance and what additions I added, I quickly picked up on the difference between outstanding pork broth and good pork broth. Now, I need ramen and in my city, there is none. So, thank you for this outstanding reference which I will be using quite often in my attempt to make something passable.
Hi Doug! I remember I responded to your comment, but somehow it doesn’t show my response here… just in case you didn’t receive my response earlier, I’m going to write again. 🙂
I’m happy to hear your son enjoyed eating ramen in Japan! Sounds like he really enjoyed eating local Japanese food! I hope you enjoy this quick homemade ramen recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami! I’d like to try making your ramen but I have some questions about the ingredients. I can’t find awake miso on island. I have red and white miso (separate packages) can I use a mix of this to make up the awake miso part? If so, can you suggest a measurement? I also can’t find the exact brand of chili paste but our local Japanese food market has something similar (it says chili paste on the label) would this be fine to use?
HI Vanessa! You can mix and blend your awase miso by mixing white and red. Each miso brand is different in terms of saltiness and color, but I’d start with 1:1. I think it’s the same one. It should be Chinese brand and says Doubanjiang (for spicy, La Doubanjiang) or (spicy) chili bean paste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubanjiang
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry/doubanjiang-chili-bean-paste/
http://amzn.to/1GbO7eL (buy on amazon)
Soooo going to give this a shot! I love ramen, I too live in the Bay Area and are always looking for a good spot. Santouka has always been my favorite place but San Jose is a drive. In your opinion. What ramen restaurants are your favorite?
Hi Dexter! I think you will love this ramen! The soup is very easy to make, but it tastes pretty amazing. 🙂 My favorite? It’s hard to pick one (especially I haven’t tried all the ramen shops in the Bay Area), but I live in Peninsula and I go to Ramen Dojo and Ramen Parlor often. I don’t want to drive to SJ and wait in line to get a bowl of soup, unless it’s a special occasion… 🙂
I recently went to San Francisco on a trip and had real ramen for the first time. I have been trying to find ramen just like the one I had in Chicago with no luck. I stumbled across your website and tried making this tonight. I even went to a special Japanese grocery store to get ingredients! This recipe tastes exactly like the one I tried in San Francisco!! I am so glad I discovered your website and can’t wait to try more recipes! Now I need to try this again with all of the tasty toppings!!
Hi Erica! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my miso ramen recipe! The broth is easy to make and doesn’t take hours or days like ramen shops spend, but the flavor of this soup is pretty amazing. Make other toppings ahead to fully enjoy the ramen next time! Thank you very much for your kind feedbsck!