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 made your Miso Ramen last night. It was so oishi !! I love the ramen eggs !! I gave a picture but I don’t know where to post it. Thank you for all your amazing recipes !!!!
Hi Donna! I’m so happy to hear you liked the recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂 People share the picture with me on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook page. If you post on Instagram, don’t forget #justonecookbook so I won’t miss it. 🙂 Thank you again!
Do you happen to have a homemade recipe for making miso paste/broth/etc.? We get the organic Minute Miso and it’s so high in sodium. I’ve commented before (a few times, really) and commented last time about how we have health issues and can’t have high sodium content. It makes Asian cooking difficult sometimes, because the readily available supplies near us are never the low-sodium options. ^^;
Hi Jessica! Thank you for asking. I don’t make miso on my own (it is usually half year process). There are reduced salt miso products, but miso in general is pretty salty but I also read an article about miso’s high sodium content here:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=114
If you can find short-term miso then it has the least amount of salt and soybeans.
If you have good dashi, you don’t have to put too much miso in the broth/soup. It has great flavor and you don’t have to rely on miso taste that much. Every miso varies in salt content, so we always need to taste and adjust. A lot of Japanese restaurants here in the US serve very strong miso soup (they put too much miso) too….
Found one site teaching how to make miso: http://japanese-cooking-class-tokyo-mari.com/recipe/2013/11/01/how-to-make-miso-paste-home-made-miso-recipe/
Made this recipe again last night. It’s a hit every time and it is made easily without too much effort. I love this recipe and will keep making it often.
Hi Cedrik! I’m so happy you like this recipe! It’s easy but flavors are not lucking much considering how quickly this broth is made! 😉 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami,
Thanks for sharing delicious recipes. My family and I are love Japanese food. I would love to give it a ago, but since we are vegetarian what can you recommend us with this recipe. What is Tobanjang and are there a substitute for it
hI Galuh! Thank you for reading my blog! 🙂 If you are vegetarian, please use this recipe:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/vegetarian-ramen/
Tobanjang (chili bean paste) is REALLY important in this recipe to get the flavor, so please look for it. It’s the key ingredient for this recipe. 🙂
Hi, I would like to try making this. Do I know where can I buy this ramen in Singapore? If it is not available here, what is the closest substitute? Thanks!
Hi Teo! I don’t live in Singapore, so it’s very hard for me to tell you where you can buy ramen noodles. I’ve heard from JOC readers in Singapore that you can buy Japanese ingredients from Japanese grocery stores (and department stores). I don’t know where they are located, but it’s worth a visit. 🙂
Just made this tonight for the family. It was great! I will probably use unsalted chicken broth next time or leave out the additional salt as it was a tad salty in the end but otherwise the flavour was amazing! The whole family loved it 🙂 Will be making again.
Hi Maria! I’m happy to hear your family enjoyed it! I use Trader Joe’s organic chicken broth (if you are in the US) and it’s pretty good!
We had this for lunch yesterday and it was crazy delicious, Nami! My daughter asked me when I’ll be making it again. I reminded her that we just had it yesterday and she said, “yeah, but that was YESTERDAY, mom”.
I can’tt be find awase miso at my local Japanese grocery store so I just used white miso and it turned out great. I’m thinking I’ll add a tiny bit of red miso paste next time for depth on flavor. Would it be okay to use koji miso in this recipe? As for the noodles, I used frozen chukamen but can I substitute udon noodles instead? My daughter loves udon noodles.
This will be a staple in our house and thanks, Nami.
Hi Vanessa! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and I’m happy to hear you and your family enjoyed it! White mis is totally okay. I usually use awase miso or koji miso and saltiness for each miso is different so it’s okay to adjust the amount of miso or create your own awase miso too. 🙂 You can use udon noodles, but in my opinion, it’s too slippery and too thick to coat the ramen with soup flavor. The ramen noodles (chukamen) work the best with ramen. 🙂 My daughter loves udon too, so I think they don’t mind about the complex flavor so much. 😉 Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Hi,
I recently made a beef bone broth and am considering how to modify this recipe to use some of the leftover broth (it is very gelatinous — like a jello in the refrigerator).
The toppings I assume can remain the same, but how should I modify the broth?
I’ll also make a pork broth (with necks and shoulder) soon — would this be more appropriate?
For context, my favorite local ramen place is Waraku on Post and Laguna in San Francisco.
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have.
Hi Steve! Your beef bone broth must be delicious!
In Japan we don’t have beef stock ramen broth, so I don’t know how to modify to make it into ramen. Maybe using it for pho is more appropriate?
We do have pork broth (it’s originally from Southern Japan – Kyushu region). It’s often combined with kombu or katsuo broth (bonito flakes) and/or chicken broth.
I’ve never been to Waraku, I think. My go to ramen shop is Ramen Dojo and Ramen Parlor in San Mateo, as I live in Peninsula. 🙂
Thank you, I’ll try a combo broth from pork parts.
steve
I tried this ramen and i loved it! altough i would love to try a tonkotsu ramen as well, would it be to much to ask for another awsome reciepe
Hi Daniel! Thank you so much for trying this recipe, and I’m so happy to hear you liked it! Yeah, I’ll be working on it… but try to find a short cut so we don’t have to spend hours/days…. 🙂
Looking forward to try Miso Ramen. I can’t find any good Ramen place where I live… ㅠㅠㅠ
Hi Brian! Hope you enjoy this recipe. Ramen place spend hours and days to make their broth, but mine is very quick version. However, considering how little time you spend, the taste is delicious. Hope you will like this recipe! 🙂
Nami, I’ve just made your miso ramen for my husband. We both LOVED it. I’m never disappointed by your recipes – in fact, every one I’ve tried has become a staple in our household. I make at least one of your recipes every week! Thank you for all your hard work, and we’ve now added miso ramen to our list of regular meals.
I should mention I used white miso and it still turned out great. For toppings, we had ramen egg, spicy bean sprout salad, corn (heated from frozen) and nori. All super tasty.
Hi Ellie! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe and you also enjoyed other recipes too! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Also thanks for writing your tip on white miso – I know there’s always people who want to know about different ingredients/substitutions. I appreciate that you took time to write it here. Thank you!
Hope you find more recipes that you like on my blog. 🙂
Hello, Namiko! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
I would like to know about the broth. I want to make a homemade broth and I don’t know how. Please, Can you explain that to me? I need the ingredients for the broth too. Thanks a lot!!
Hi Rocio! What do you mean by homemade broth? You mean ramen broth from scratch, like cooking bone broth for hours/days to make ramen stock? I’m working on the recipe but not ready to share it yet. 🙂
I was very very sceptic about this recipe and many others.
But at last I gathered the courage to try and make my own miso ramen (of course using chicken broth, ready made miso and precooked ramen).
This is an excellent recipe, the family loved it on the very first try although I used a tad too much miso imo.
The salt seems not necessary at all in the recipe, but it can be added.
Used tauge, fresh corn, spring onions and panko fried chicken as toppings (togarashi to be added for who wants).
The thing I’m unable to find however is fermented bamboo shoots, this would complete the picture for me.
Kudos!
Hi Ralse! Haha I’m glad you tried this recipe even though you were skeptic. 😀 I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind feedback! Each miso brand and type varies the salt level. So it’s good to know if your miso is more on saltier side or less so you can adjust the flavor of your dishes correctly. 🙂 I need to try making the Menma “bamboo shoot” recipe one day. 🙂
I tried one very easy recipe but the result wasn’t good at all.
It said to just take soy sauce, sugar and water, add it to bamboo shoots and boil until all dispersed.
Because it took too long I stopped earlier, it tasted far too much like soy sauce even after rinsing well.
The menma I know has a savory but subtle taste, it’s been at least 5 years since I had some though.
But again, your ramen recipe is a definite hit and I’m going to make it my signature dish when I have people come over.
Hi Ralse! I think you’ll need chili pepper (and layu) and sesame oil as well. Maybe I’ll try the recipe one day! The recipe you followed lacks the spicy taste of menma. I’m so happy to hear you like the ramen recipe and became your signature recipe! 🙂
Still struggling with the saltyness. If I use low salt chicken broth, the taste is off (I can already tell from when I taste the chicken broth before cooking). If I use normal chicken broth, it tastes great but too salty.
Hi Ralse! I think it’s best for you to season with salt to your liking, especially if you think regular chicken broth is too salty. I use kosher salt for cooking, but if you use table salt, you need to use half of my amount. Another way is to cook the vegetable and meat well until fragrant and gives out more flavor to the broth. 🙂
Actually I have never added salt at all in this recipe, it’s already very salty with the chicken broth cubes. Really a problem, most of them contain 40% sodium. The ones that have less salt also have a lot less taste – apart from the salt.
OH!!! You’re using chicken broth cube! I highly recommend using liquid chicken broth or homemade. It has MSG in there too, it might be MSG you’re referring to? When restaurant noodle soup contains MSG, you get thirsty and it’s not from salt, it’s due to MSG they put in. Since you mentioned about chicken broth cube, I thought of mentioning it. I highly recommend MSG free chicken broth.
Hi,
They don’t sell awase miso here, my option is only Aka or Shiro, which one should I choose?
I also checked your chashu recipe, you mentioned soy sauce…can I use Kikkoman soy sauce?
Thanks
Hi Inge! Awase miso is basically the combination of red and white miso, and the taste is different depends on the brand. It’s best when you can make your own blend. If you would pick one, then I’d use white miso for this recipe. 🙂 And yes, I use kikkoman brand soy sauce, too.
I like your recipes and your videos. I will definitely use your recipes for ideas on my school Japanese cookbook project. These videos make cooking look easy. Mahalo.
Hi Miki! Thank you so much! Good luck with your school cookbook project! 🙂