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Curry Soy Miso Ramen with Roast Butternut Squash, Tofu & Kimchi

Vegan ramens tend to lack body and viscosity, and I wanted to make one which had the same depth of flavour as a tonkotsu – the king of ramens. I use an old Japanese technique of making a miso and soy milk broth and it’s good (I eat it a lot) but then I add a curry base to the broth and there is no meat eater out there who would argue that this soup base doesn’t have everything that you would ever want. The toppings are the extras that I like: the roasted butternut squash goes so well with the curry, the tofu adds protein and the kimchi acidic spice. I’ve also popped some shiitake mushrooms in there too and finished with sesame and Korean chilli pepper. Leave the eggs out to make this an entirely vegan dish.

SERVES 2 (MAKES ENOUGH SOUP FOR 4)

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cooking time 1 hour

2 tbsp coconut, light rapeseed or groundnut oil, plus extra for frying

1 onion, finely chopped

6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tbsp curry powder (English or Malaysian)

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp turmeric

1 tbsp soy bean chilli oil (Chinese, Thai or Japanese)

1.2 litres boiling water

200g white miso paste

3 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Marmite

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp palm or brown sugar

400ml soy milk

200g shiitake mushrooms, sliced

200g firm tofu, cut into thick slices

100ml teriyaki sauce

2 free-range eggs, boiled for 6 minutes, quickly cooled in iced water and peeled

90g buckwheat noodles per person, cooked until al dente and refreshed in iced water

3 slices roasted butternut squash per person (see here)

2 heaped spoonfuls kimchi

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

½ tsp Korean chilli powder

1 tsp sesame seeds

In a medium casserole, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion. Allow to soften for about 15 minutes to develop their sweet flavour before adding the garlic and ginger. Sweat for a further 3–4 minutes before adding the spices. Next add the soy bean chilli oil and give this a couple of minutes on the heat, before adding the water. Whisk in the miso paste, followed by the mirin, nutritional yeast, Marmite, soy and sugar. Allow the sauce to reduce on a low simmer for 30 minutes and then add the soy milk. Transfer to a food processor and blitz until smooth, then return to the pan.

Meanwhile in a frying pan heat a glug of oil and fry the mushrooms over a high heat for 5 minutes until they start to caramelise, then set aside. Return the pan to the heat, add a little extra oil if necessary, ramp up the heat and fry the tofu for a minute on each side, or until really charred. Put the teriyaki sauce in a bowl, add the tofu and the eggs and coat thoroughly. Set to one side.

When ready to serve, divide the noodles between two ramen bowls and pour a quarter of the soup base into each bowl. Slice the eggs in half and place on top. Slice the tofu into strips and arrange next to the eggs, followed by the butternut squash and kimchi. Finally, sprinkle the spring onions, chilli powder and sesame seeds over the top and serve immediately.