How To Make Your Instant Ramen Soup Base/stock Taste Authentic

Ramen brings with it the inevitable memories of college dorms and low budget emergencies. While it is undoubtedly one of the most popular comfort foods, the fact of the matter is that ramen does not have to be the thin broth and dehydrated noodles staple that many seem to be having. The key to a good ramen, as any cook will tell you, is the consistency and flavor of the ramen broth.

Those in the West often mistake ramen noodles to be a combination of pale noodles and a watery soup. The authentic Japanese ramen, however, is a full, rich and creamy concoction in a bowl that is sure to do wonders on a cold winter evening.

Most people living in Japan will tell you that the ramen broth, like the pizza is different regionaly flavors.  

So Why is the Soup of the Ramen so Tasty in Japan?

The key to making your own perfect broth is ime.  What do we mean?  Well to make fresh stock for Ramen takes over 12 - 24 hours give or take.  Its all about the simmering in order to extract the beautful flavors from the bones of your meat(Pork common).  It is truly an art form.   

Many will find that making stock from scratch is a little more technical than simmering the veggies and meat in salt and water. The trick, as seasoned cooks will tell you is to blanch and wash the meat and bones before simmering them down. This makes sure that the stock is flavorful and has the right consistency. While the stock can be enjoyed as it is, the critical element that lends the ramen broth its classic frothy texture is the addition of the perfect proportion of fats and herbs.  

You can find many recipes online but our favorite is from Shizuoka Gourmet.  

Making your Instant Noodle Soup base Taste like Dynamite

For many us worldwide, it is safe to say instant noodles is a staple in most household.  So the question is, how can I enhance my instant soup powder to make it more flavorful or make it somewhat close to an Authentic broth?

The best method of adding flavor and thickness to the instant broth is by adding the following: 

• 2 or 3 Tablespoon Sour Cream
• Dash of Cilantro, basil, thyme, parsley for flavor
• Dash of  Black garlic oil 
• Sesame Paste
• One Soft Boiled Eggs for added flavor and texture (or sunny side up eggs and stir in) / The yolk has to be in liquidy form in both cases.
• Tahini paste at the end (source: Reiko Hashimoto twitter.com/@hashicooking)

^{by Charles Haynes - Paste Dipping sauce - Sesame}

We recommend you experiment with these ingredients to get to a conistency and flavor that you like.  It is the same process of Pho, a Vietnamese Dish, for those who are familiar with.  Some alternative ingredients to experiement with are Hazelnut creamer and curry powder, both of these have worked well from some our sources.

Understand you will never get to the authencity of true Ramen Broth but with these shortcuts, you will be elevated to a new level of instant noodles.  Instant Noodles 2.0!  Let us know what ingredient shortcuts do you use to create richness in your broth.

One last tip:  Make sure your instant noodle package is not expired as many tend to believe that it has a long shelf life.