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Flavored with pork and chicken broth with a mix of toppings such as chashu and ramen egg, this bowl of Miso Ramen is going to satisfy your craving. You can make delicious ramen with authentic broth in less than 30 minutes!

When you’re in Japan, you will quickly learn that there are 3 basic ramen flavors: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), and miso (fermented soybean paste).

Learn How to Make Miso Ramen at Home

Ramen consists of 3 components: soup, noodles, and toppings. In this post, I’ll go over each topic in detail.

Part 1: Ramen Soup スープ

Although the Japanese enjoy eating ramen at ramen shops,  it is common for Japanese moms to make ramen at home. Making good ramen soup from scratch requires a lot of time and effort, so most households use packaged ramen which includes 2-3 servings of fresh noodles and a concentrated soup base.

In this recipe, instead of spending many hours making the ramen soup base, I’ll show you how to make a delicious ramen soup that takes just 15 minutes. Best of all, it tastes much better than the soup base that comes with the package.

In case you’re wondering, the soup for miso ramen is not the “miso soup” made from dashi and miso paste.

Below, I explain the ingredients for Miso Ramen soup. I do not recommend skipping or substituting the following ingredients because each ingredient plays an important role. As a result, you get a rich and intensely savory bowl of miso ramen that will greatly satisfy your cravings.

5 Key Ingredients for Quick Miso Ramen Soup

1. Miso
2. (Spicy) chili bean sauce – (La) doubanjiang in Chinese
3. Sesame seeds and sesame oil
4. Homemade or store-bought chicken broth
5. White pepper powder

1. Miso

Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste, and it’s one of the essential condiments in Japanese cooking.

For miso ramen, use any miso type except for hatcho miso or saikyo miso. My favorite miso is kodawattemasu

2. (Spicy) Chili Bean Sauce/Paste or (La) Doubanjiang

The key condiment in this recipe is spicy chili bean paste or (la) doubanjiang. The savory paste adds an incredible depth and character to the broth that you should not substitute it. You can add more if you like your soup to be spicy, but 1 teaspoon would be enough to give it a good kick.The key condiment in this recipe is spicy chili bean paste or (la) doubanjiang. The savory paste adds an incredible depth and character to the broth that you should not substitute it. You can add more if you like your soup to be spicy, but 1 teaspoon would be enough to give it a good kick.

When the kids were small, I was using non-spicy doubanjiang from a Taiwanese Lian How (岡山) brand (center in the above picture) which I get from a local Chinese grocery store. Amazon does not sell the non-spicy broad bean paste, but Walmart sells it (please let me know if you find this brand online).

3. Sesame Seeds and Sesame Oil

Sesame flavor in this recipe is prominent as both sesame seeds and oil make the broth nuttier and richer, adding a nice aroma and flavor to the ramen soup.

Japanese households always have a set of suribachi (mortar) and surikogi (pestle) to grind sesame seeds, but if you don’t have one, you can crush the sesame seeds with a food processor (or a coffee bean grinder).

deep flavor of sesame and only 1 tablespoon would give plenty of fragrance to the soup.

4. Homemade or Store Bought Chicken Broth

For a richer and more flavorful broth, homemade chicken stock is best. But it’s okay to use store-bought broth to make ramen soup if you don’t have the time.

adjust the salt according to your liking. Remember, some chicken stock can be saltier, so you always have to taste your soup before adding salt.

5. White Pepper Powder

I believe white pepper powder is a magical spice in Chinese-style soups and fried rice. Just a few sprinkles of white pepper will elevate the flavor and add a nice kick without the spiciness. You can find white pepper powder in Asian grocery stores or specialty spice shops.