A sesame miso ramen goes goth…
Cautions and warnings
First of all, if you’re just looking for a really amazing, easy, normal, and/or authentic ramen, this is probably not the place to be (I recommend Kenji Lopéz-Alt’s Ultimate Vegan Ramen Recipe with Miso Broth, from which this was partially adapted).
This recipe takes at least two hours, has some unusual/hard-to-source/expensive ingredients, many steps, and some extra effort for the sole purpose of creating a very dark ramen. Also note: you will have most of an eggplant left over.
It has several components:
- A garlicky roasted vegetable broth
- A black sesame miso paste
- Garnishes of roasted eggplant skin, nori, and black sesame seeds
Looking for a side dish? Check out Grim Grains’ Dark Yaki Gyoza!
Ramen of the Abyss
A sesame miso ramen goes goth…
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Blender
- Roasting Pan
Ingredients
- 2 red onions
- 1 head garlic
- 8 oz mushrooms shiitake or whatever you can find
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 6 inches kombu
- 4 inches ginger
- 1/4 cup hatcho (black) miso
- 1/2 cup black sesame seeds
- 12 scallions
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 4 servings black rice ramen noodles
- 12 pieces toasted nori
- black fermented garlic optional
- black radish optional
Instructions
- Heat oven to 200C/400ºF
- Take the ginger, mushrooms, onions, and the white part of the scallions and roughly chop or slice them into bite-sized pieces. Slice the top off of the head of garlic.
- Toss the chopped ginger, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and white part of the scallions in 1 tablespoon oil and place in a roasting pan; roast for approximately 30 minutes or until soft or even a bit charred.
- Meanwhile, carefully peel the skin off of the eggplant. Set aside the rest of the eggplant for another meal.
- Toast all of the sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 5 minutes and set aside to cool.
- Heat the remaining oil and fry the eggplant skins until they curl up and get crispy; remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- By now, your veggies are probably roasted. Put them in a large stock pot with the kombu, cover with water, and bring to a simmer, covered, for 1.5 hours
- Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, mirin, and scallion tops in a small saucepan and simmer for approximately 30 minutes until the liquid is thick. Set aside to cool.
- When your stock is ready, strain it, reserving the garlic head.
- Squeeze the softened roasted garlic cloves out of their peels and into a blender jar. Blend garlic until smooth, adding strained broth as necessary. Return the blended garlic to the strained broth and bring to a simmer again.
- Separate the sesame seeds; you'll want to reserve 4 pinches of whole seeds for a garnish.
- Combine the rest of the sesame seeds (you should have at least 3/4 of a cup) with the reduced soy-mirin glaze and blend until very, very smooth. This may take a bit of time, but the smoother it is, the darker your finished ramen will be!
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions.
- Divide the miso-sesame paste among 4 serving bowls. Place 2 pieces of toasted nori on the side of each bowl.
- Divide the noodles among the bowls. Ladle the hot broth over the top to fill each bowl.
- Garnish each bowl with toasted black sesame seeds, fried eggplant skins, and fermented black garlic and/or black radish if you have them.
Notes
The miso, sesame seeds, and black rice noodles can typically be found in Asian markets or organic/bio grocery stores, and of course, online.
