Vegan Tonkotsu Ramen Broth
This vegan ramen broth is as rich as any soup you’ve ever tasted. It’s intensely creamy, savory, and nutty. It clings closely to noodles, making your slurps most satisfying. A steaming hot pot of this goodness can be yours in just 30 minutes.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 240 g onion diced (about 1/2 pound or half a medium onion)
- 25 g garlic minced (about half a bulb or 8 cloves)
- 10 g fresh ginger peeled and minced (about 2 Tbsp)
- 3 Tbsp peanut oil or other cooking oil
- 8 g dried kombu (about a 5-inch / 12-cm square)
- 2 liters vegetable stock (2 quarts)
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 dried shiitake mushroom
- 1 cup almond milk or other plant milk, unflavored and unsweetened
- 3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 3 Tbsp Japanese soy sauce
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Instructions
- Place shiitake mushroom in a cup of hot (though not boiling) water to rehydrate.
- Place cashews in a cup of hot (though not boiling) water to rehydrate.
- Heat peanut oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add onion. Cook until onions are medium brown, though not burned, 3-5 minutes, stirring very occasionally.
- Add garlic and ginger. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add vegetable stock and kombu. When broth begins to boil, reduce to medium-low heat.
- Simmer for 20 minutes.
- While the broth simmers, prepare the cashew cream mixture.
- Remove shiitake mushroom and cashews from the water, reserving the soaking liquid for use later.
- Combine nutritional yeast, sesame oil, soy sauce, soaked and drained mushroom, soaked and drained cashews, and almond milk in a high-speed blender. Blend for 20 seconds on low. Add some of the soaking liquid from the mushroom or cashews if the consistency is too thick to blend. The mixture should be quite thick, but mostly uniform at this point.
- Blend 20 seconds on medium, then 20 seconds on high.
- When the broth is finished simmering, strain out the onions, garlic, ginger, and kombu.
- Remove pot from heat. Stir in blended cashew cream mixture. Add water if consistency is too thick. Soup should be just thick enough to coat a spoon.
- Taste some soup. Add salt as needed.
Notes
Soaking the mushroom and cashews overnight will yield a slightly smoother broth.
You can make this broth spicy by adding gochujang.
If the consistency of the soup is too thick you can thin the broth out with more vegetable stock.