Best broth for ramen?

starryphoenix
starryphoenix Posts: 381 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I love ramen, but the packaged kind has too much sodium a lot of the time and it’s just not that healthy. I found this really cool organic ramen, but the problem is the broth flavor tastes like dirt. The noodles would taste good with a great broth, but I don’t cook and know next to nothing about broth. I was hoping someone could give me some suggestions.

I don’t want it to have a ton of sodium. I love stuff from Trader Joe’s, but it doesn’t have to be from there. I don’t really have a flavor preference. I want it to be authentic as possible, nothing artificial.

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    Better than Bouillon...if you can find it...the vegetable is amazing, but any of the flavors make the best broth in the universe save actual homemade...you can adjust the flavor up or down by using more or less.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    If you don't like what came with the "organic" ramen you obviously do have a taste preference.

    If you want something in the neighborhood of authentic you could look for a restaurant that has ramen on the menu. Since you don't cook your only other option is to get something from a commercial kitchen that likely comes in a box or a jar.

    You would probably be better off buying low/no sodium broth and adding it to the stuff you were buying that you liked. Keep in mind that noodle dishes typically need more salt so going completely salt/sodium free may be unpleasant.

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited December 2019
    tcunbeliever wrote: »
    Better than Bouillon...if you can find it...the vegetable is amazing, but any of the flavors make the best broth in the universe save actual homemade...you can adjust the flavor up or down by using more or less.

    You would need to buy the reduced sodium version if you are on a doctor mandated low sodium diet. Otherwise I am not sure why it matters.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    I normally use maggi bouillon in my soups/stews. No idea how much sodium offthe top of my head,
    but commercial-fully-prepared/restaurant stuff tends to be salt-lick-y to me so it is probably reasonable in the salt content at least for the concentration I use.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Note, if you typically eat pre- packaged or restaurant foods, you may be used to the taste of the high salt content, and a lower sodium version might take some getting used to for you.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    For something easy and relatively "authentic" in taste, you can just add some miso paste (white miso has less sodium) to diluted light chicken broth (by at least 1:1, water to broth).

    The less miso, the less sodium and the weaker the broth, the less it will affect the taste of the miso.

    However, if you are going to go to the trouble to buy the miso, you might as well buy the dashi (Japanese soup base) at the same time and make an even more authentic miso soup broth like the one here:

    https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Classic-Miso-Soup-1522547

    Either should taste better and have less sodium (which you can control) than the soup base packet that comes w/your ramen.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Last wednesday I made ramen out of the following:
    1.5ish cups of homemade chicken stock
    1 heaping tbsp miso
    .25 tsp almond butter
    .5 tsp sesame seed oil
    .25 tsp rice wine vinegar
    a few grinds of pepper

    Simmer the stock on medium
    Add the remaining 5 to a small bowl and stir until well combined
    Once the stock is simmering, add the miso mix to the stock and whisk until well combined.

    The toppings included chicken thigh, scallions, and nori. I was slightly too lazy to use dashi, but it was very good.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    One option with the prepackaged stuff that I used to do is cook the noodles as directed, but instead of adding the whole packet to water to make broth, drain the water and sprinkle a little on the noodles for flavor. HUGE dent in the overall sodium. You can add meat and veggies for a boost of nutrition.

    I but a ramen broth from Aldi that is really good, but it’s one of those here today, gone tomorrow items. The brand is something like Fusion maybe?
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    Of the instant broths, dashi powder is my favourite.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited December 2019
    acpgee wrote: »
    Even if you don't really cook, it is not that much work to make your own broth.

    Every time you eat bone in chicken, beef or pork save the bones in a large ziplock bag I call the "bone bag" in the freezer. Don't forget to save bones from ready made rotiserrie chicken or even KFC. If you cook enough to have clean vegetable trimings and peels toss them in the bone bag as well. When the bag is full put everything in a large pot (the one you use for cooking spaghetti) with a halved onion (skin and all) and simmer several hours on low heat on a day you are puttering around the house.

    If you want to keep your broth in the freezer, you might want to reduce the broth so that it takes up less space. Turn up the temperature and boil furiously for 30 minutes or so, strain, and freeze in plastic food containers until needed.

    Yes, I save bones in the freezer in a ziplock bag and make my own stock.

    Since I have a hard time getting a consistent simmer on my electric stove, I put the bones in my slow cooker (not tightly packed), cover with water, and cook for 8-10 hours, often overnight.

    Whatever I'm going to use in the next week I refrigerate, and the rest I freeze.

    For ramen soup, I add soy and fish sauce, and ginger, and at the end of the cooking, a squeeze of lime.

    Adapted from this recipe. I love that it says (seasoning packets discarded) lol. I use more protein and less noodles. Also, I've moved on from ramen and use organic angel hair or capellini pasta, which cooks in the same time, turns out to be cheaper, does not have ingredients I don't want, and I don't have to throw out the seasoning packet.

    ragqr3sge6sw.jpg
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I use dashi granules when I am in a rush and want that pop of flavour so this might be a good option for you. But I prefer to make it on my own with kombu and bonito flakes. Those aren't always easy to find and takes more time.

    To my dashi stock if I want miso based soup I add miso paste, or shoyu I add Japanese soy sauce.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    Also for anyone who can get them, I highly recommend Sun ramen noodles. You'd find them in the freezer section of an Asian grocery store though apparently some Whole Foods stores sell them as well. Yamachan Ramen's noodles are also really good and in my experience easier to find if your local Asian grocery stores don't sell Sun noodles.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    aokoye wrote: »
    Also for anyone who can get them, I highly recommend Sun ramen noodles. You'd find them in the freezer section of an Asian grocery store though apparently some Whole Foods stores sell them as well. Yamachan Ramen's noodles are also really good and in my experience easier to find if your local Asian grocery stores don't sell Sun noodles.

    My Whole Foods has neither :(

    I'm sure my Asian store does, but I only get up there a few times a year.

    For anyone in the Boston area, this place is amazing! http://www.kammanfoods.com/quincy/en/

    There are also two in NJ and one in NY's Chinatown, but I haven't been to any of those.
  • flotek72
    flotek72 Posts: 500 Member
    I like to eat ramen from time to time and frequent a restaurant where I've had tonkotsu shoyu ramen plenty of times. I've had their normal and low sodium version and the normal tastes way better. I don't think you are going to find a GREAT tasting broth without a high sodium amount. The low sodium broth tends to be a bit bland. Anyways, I've been to asian super markets and they do sell broth paste. You may be able to find something there that could be lower in sodium than normal.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    aokoye wrote: »
    Also for anyone who can get them, I highly recommend Sun ramen noodles. You'd find them in the freezer section of an Asian grocery store though apparently some Whole Foods stores sell them as well. Yamachan Ramen's noodles are also really good and in my experience easier to find if your local Asian grocery stores don't sell Sun noodles.

    My Whole Foods has neither :(

    I'm sure my Asian store does, but I only get up there a few times a year.

    For anyone in the Boston area, this place is amazing! http://www.kammanfoods.com/quincy/en/

    There are also two in NJ and one in NY's Chinatown, but I haven't been to any of those.

    Yeah, I can't get either of those at anywhere other than various Asian markets here. Uwajimaya stocks both and H-Mart only stocks Yamachan (among other frozen ramen brands), though Sun Noodles says that the H-Mart that I go to stocks them. Apparently you can get Sun ramen noodles in NYC area Whole Foods but they definitely do not stock them at any of the ones near me.

    Conveniently I live in an area with a fairly wide variety of Asian markets which is primarily due to immigration patterns more than anything.
  • starryphoenix
    starryphoenix Posts: 381 Member
    Thanks for all the suggestions! I’ll try some of these. I have had authentic ramen twice in my life. Not really a fan of cooking, but I’ll do it for something I love.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,945 Member
    For instant ramen eaters, be aware that the instant wheat noodles need to be deep fried to make them instant. Go with asian egg noodles or soba that have the non-instant cooking time if you want to save on calories.

    If you want instant ramen, the ready made packets that use rice or bean noodles have about 30% fewer calories than instant wheat noodles because they don't need to be fried to make them instant.

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