Shiitake and broccoli ramen soup

Shiitake and broccoli ramen soup is so tasty and filled with vitamins, the broth is mainly a miso paste, a touch of ginger, garlic and a little chilli. The meaty shiitakes mushrooms are giving all their flavor to the broth, you won’t believe there isn’t meat in this soup. It’s so simple and tasty and easily done, a under 30 minutes recipe.

Let’s talk umami, the fifth taste, which is not a clear one, most people don’t even know about it, yet they love it. For example, tomatoes, parmesan, red meat, fermented veggies and shiitake are filled with it. Umami is such a mysterious taste, not as easy to define as its colleagues; saltiness, sourness, sweetness and bitterness. The 5th taste is actually all around us, and especially in this recipe, it’s fully present. You won’t get closer to this flavor then with a shiitake ramen soup. Shiitakes are a great umami example, a certain meaty taste to it, this is the umami flavor at its best. Also the soup starts by a kombu broth, which again is a high in glutamic acid (umami component), then adding some miso, another umami element… So in other words, if you want some umami filled dish tonight, try this ramen soup. Last detail about umami; each of our first ever meals were filled with it, the mother breast milk is 10 times higher in glutamic acid than any other kind of food. I guess we are predisposed to love this taste.

Let’s get that umami flavor going!

4 portions

Ingredients

ramen noodles (1 pack by person)
1.5l of water
1 tbsp of coconut oil
80g of miso paste
2 tbsp of chilli in oil sauce
150g of shiitake mushrooms
1 small broccoli
2 green onions
1 carrot in julienne (small sticks)
1 tbsp of garlic minced
1 tbsp of ginger minced
1 tbsp of sugar (any sweetener)
salt and pepper

Directions

Let the kombu seaweed in the water to get soft for 30 minutes
Boil for 5 minutes to give it taste then discard the sea weed
In another big pot add the ginger, garlic, coconut oil and shiitakes on high heat for 2 minutes
Add the kombu broth, the miso paste, chilli paste, sugar and let cook medium high heat for 10 minutes
Add the broccoli after 5 minutes
In a big water pot, cook the ramen al dente
Add the ramen to big bowls
Fill the bowl with the hot soup
Top with finely cut carrots, green onions and a touch of black sesame seeds