Vegan ramen with charred corn

Vegan ramen with charred corn

vegan ramen charred corn hands

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that I posted a poll asking if my followers are still keen to see some summer recipes or if I should wave goodbye to summer and embrace pumpkins. To my delight summer recipes won by quite a big margin. We’ve had a pretty mediocre summer here in the UK and being unable to travel abroad, I feel like I want to make the most of the September sun, which has been quite generous lately and that’s why I’m reluctant to part with the summer mode and summer produce just yet.

Corn is firmly in my late summer favourites and we enjoy it daily. Typically charred on a griddle pan (that’s a must) and shaved into a seasonal salad but today I’ve made it into a more comforting, warming meal that is just perfect for chilly evenings. I made a corn ramen inspired by two of my previous recipes, this miso corn soup and my recent corn chowder with vegan chorizo.

This soup is creamy and sweet, warming and lightly spiced with ginger and chilli. It’s not difficult to make and it is a perfect for using up cooked corn. I tend to char my corn on a griddle pan first as it adds an extra flavour dimension, but cooked corn would work well enough too. Dried shiitake mushrooms and kombu are defining ramen broth ingredients so if you can get hold of them – I get them in my local Asian grocer, but you can also buy them online – don’t skip them.

First, I sauté all the aromatics in a little oil until lightly charred, then I add water, kombu, dried mushrooms and shaved corn cobs to make a simple, flavoursome stock, which will form the base of this dish. To add body, creaminess and sweetness, I blitz charred corn kernels with some creamy soy milk until smooth and add it to the broth. All you need to do next is to season and garnish with your favourite toppings. I used pre-cooked ramen noodles, steamed broccoli and green beans, my favourite tofu, some leftover corn kernels and a drizzle of chilli (or sesame if you don’t like chilli) oil for an extra kick. It looks impressive and tastes great, but it isn’t really that hard to make, promise. We’ve enjoyed it immensely and I hope you and your loved ones will do too.

vegan ramen charred corn

vegan ramen charred corn making

vegan ramen charred corn toppings

vegan ramen charred corn broth

vegan ramen charred corn lunch

vegan ramen charred corn close up

vegan ramen charred corn bowls two

vegan ramen charred corn close up side

serves
3-4
PREP
15 min
COOKING
60 min
serves
3-4
PREPARATION
15 min
COOKING
60 min
INGREDIENTS
SOUP

TOPPING SUGGESTIONS

  • 100 g / 3½ oz tender stem broccoli / green beans, per bowl
  • 50 g / 1¾ oz your favourite tofu or tempeh, per bowl
  • noodles (GF if required), 100 g / 3½ oz precooked noodles, per bowl
  • green parts of spring onions / scallions, thinly sliced
  • sesame seeds, to garnish
METHOD
  1. Immerse dried shiitake and kombu in 1 litre / 4 cups of cold water, allow them to sit as long as you can – overnight is ideal, but not necessary.
  2. Heat up a griddle pan. Brush corn cobs with a little oil and arrange them on a griddle pan. Char on medium heat, turning every 3-5 minutes as necessary until cooked and lightly charred all over.
  3. Heat up 1-2 tbsp of oil in a medium pot. Once hot, add shallots, garlic, ginger and chilli (if using). Sauté on low / medium heat, stirring frequent, until lightly charred in places.
  4. Meanwhile, shave the kernels off the cobs with a sharp knife. Save the cobs and divide the kernels in half.
  5. Add in kombu, shittake, their soaking liquid and shaved corn cobs. Bring to a simmer – remove kombu just before the broth comes to the boil – and carry on simmering for 30 minutes to create a veggie stock.
  6. While the stock is simmering, steam your veggies (tenderstem broccoli takes 6-7 minutes, green beans take about 4 minutes), pan-fry / bake the tofu and cook the noodles – they can be cooked in the soup at the end but I prefer to do it separately to have more control.
  7. Once the stock is ready, fish out the mushrooms (you can slice them thinly and have in the soup or use in another dish) and corn cobs, pour the rest of it into a blender together with half of the corn kernels, soy milk, miso paste and a good pinch of salt and blitz until super smooth.
  8. Return the soup to the pot and warm it up gently. Season with vinegar and more salt (or soy sauce / tamari). Corn is sweet so I didn’t feel the need to add any sweet seasoning but if you do, a touch of mirin will work well. If you wanted the ramen extra indulgent, you can whisk in a tablespoon of cashew or almond butter* in at the end.
  9. Divide between bowls, serve with cooked ramen noodles, steamed veggies, your favourite tofu and remaining charred corn kernels. Garnish the bowls with chilli (or toasted sesame) oil, spring onions / scallions and crushed sesame seeds. 

NOTES
*CORN: In winter, you can use frozen (thawed) or canned corn instead. For best flavour, drain, pat dry and char it on a hot skillet (I use cast iron skillet) in a small amount of oil before incorporating into the soup. 1 corn on the cob equals approximately ½ cup of shaved corn kernels.

*NUT BUTTER: any nut or seed butter will work provided its flavour doesn’t clash/dominate.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
373
19%
sugars
9 g
10%
fats
17 g
24%
saturates
2 g
12%
proteins
13 g
25%
carbs
44 g
17%
*per serving
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4.9
7 reviews, 15 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
guy:
Accidentally the whole thing into the broth, but it still came out really good. Found some other recipes I'm going to try, thanks for the recipe!
    Ania
    Ania:
    That's not much of an issue - I simply like to use some as topping for a different texture. I am really happy to hear that you enjoyed it anyway and hope you'll enjoy other recipes too. Ania
Benny:
We had fresh shitake in the veg box and discussed ramen being the solution. I passed my better half this recipe saying "I know this will work." And he largely followed it to a delicious outcome.
    Ania
    Ania:
    I am delighted to hear that, Benny! And thank you for taking the time to review – I really appreciate it. x Ania
Sarah:
I have made this a few times and it is delicious! Unfortunately it seems that my local grocery store no longer carries dried shitake mushrooms. Any tips/suggestions to use the fresh ones?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Delighted to hear that you've enjoyed this dish so much, Sarah. Fresh shiitake don't quite have this much intensity so it's not a great sub. How about dried porcini or other dried mushrooms instead or a good mushroom stock cube? Hope this helps. Ania
May:
Love the umami flavours, tasty and easy to make. Partner and I normally order pork ramen when eating out and we didn't miss the meaty flavours at all with this fab recipe. Will be making again!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm so happy to hear that this ramen went down so well with you and that you are planning to make it again. And thank you for taking the time to review – I really appreciate it. x Ania
Caitlin S:
Surprisingly easy and super tasty. I used tofu puffs instead of grilled tofu - I added them early on in the stock making process to really infuse them with flavour. Definitely making again!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed it and found it easy to make too, Caitlin. Thanks so much for coming back to review, I really appreciate it - reviews help my work be seen. x Ania
Courtney Leary:
I have just made this for dinner and it’s absolutely delicious!! I love the charred corn flavor!
This is something new for me and my family and we all loved it! Even my four year old said it was “yummy!”
Thanks for sharing this “yummy” recipe!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Courtney! I'm so happy to that it went down so well with your entire family, including your little one (which I imagine is quite challenging to feed adult food to ;) ) Thank you for letting me know that this recipe was a win! x Ania
MaryRuth O'Neal:
SO good! I actually charred my broccolini in the same pan as my corn (cooked my marinated tofu in that pan, too), which added a lovely flavor element to the final dish, and I blitzed the mushrooms in with the broth rather than fish them out. The finished broth was wonderfully complex and had the perfect kiss of heat (I used one Serrano in with the aromatics). Delightful ramen!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear that you enjoyed it and good cooking instincts too! x Ania
Anita:
Thank you very much!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Pleasure! :)
Anita:
It looks delicious, I really want to try to make it, however I wonder how did you prepare the tofu. :)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Anita,
    I simply pressed it, sliced, marinated in a marinade similar to this one for a few hours, sprinkled with corn starch just before pan-frying. Hope this helps! Ania
Helen:
Yes it was homegrown - using the shucked husks in the broth is inspired!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Helen. I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. x Ania
Helen:
Thanks for the recipe, I'd been given some corn this week so made this last night. It was delicious and a lovely new way to use corn too.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Helen! I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed it and I bet that homegrown (I'm assuming it was) corn made it even more special. x Ania
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