In vegan ramen broth, there are no bones. Therefore, there is no gelatin and collagen, leaving vegan ramen broth without the subtle gelatinous mouthfeel that is universal in non-vegan ramen. A few years ago I theorized on [Way of Ramen’s podcast](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0djBhIqNTSzxjNzBamnccV?si=451ae856c3bd45dc&nd=1) about the use of agar agar (sea gel) to replicate this mouthfeel, but the idea was flawed.
If you add agar agar powder in a 0.1% ratio to your vegetable stock, it becomes just as thick and gelatinous as pork/chicken stock. But there is a catch. Agar agar powder melts above 180°F/82°C, and when the liquid has melted into drops below that temperature, it rapidly solidifies. The vegetable stock turns to jell-o as it approaches room temperature, long before your guest will have finished their ramen bowl.
I tested out a 0.075% ratio of agar agar to vegetable stock, and that ratio is just low enough to ensure that the stock does not turn to jell-o when at room temperature, as the presence of agar agar is miniscule. However, that also meant that the gelatinous mouthfeel of the stock when it was not as noticeable.
After a few years of brooding, aquafaba turned out to be my missing piece to bring the thickness to where it should be. Aquafaba is the often forgotten water that chickpeas are canned in. It’s full of protein, minerals, and starch. I realized that I could further thicken and enrich the vegan bone broth without over gelatinizing it if I combined agar agar and aquafaba to make one soup.
After a lot of soaked chickpeas, agar-ratio tests, and spreadsheeting, this recipe is the result! I hope you try it out and upgrade your next bowl of vegan ramen. Since I can’t post videos with the photos, here’s a [clip of the broth being scooped](https://imgur.com/a/NvYecq4), to show its texture.
**Vegan Bone Broth**
* 200g of dried chickpeas (about 1 Cup) * 20g kombu * 20g dried shiitake * 10g sundried tomato * 1 large sweet onion * 2 medium carrots, sliced * 4 ribs of celery, sliced * 4-5 green onions, chopped * 1 large russet potato, sliced * 1 fuji apple, sliced * 1” knob of ginger * 1 head of garlic, cloves, peeled and smashed * 10g parsley leaves and stems * 1 tsp peppercorns * 4 bay leaves * Agar agar powder*
*Make sure you are using agar agar *powder*, rather than agar agar flakes
**Method**
1. Place the konbu, shiitake, and sundried tomato in 1L of water and let it soak in the fridge overnight, or for 8-24 hours. This makes dashi. 2. Place the dried chickpeas in 1L of water in a separate container and let it soak in the fridge overnight, or for 8-24 hours. 3. Place the dashi and the rest of the ingredients (excluding the chickpeas) into a large broth pot. Fill the pot with enough water to just barely cover the ingredients (about 2L). 4. Drain the soaked chickpeas, and place them in a heatproof mesh bag OR a nut milk bag. Tie off the top and submerge the bag in the pot. 5. Bring to a gentle simmer, around 190°F/88°C. Immediately remove the konbu to discard. 6. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 65-70 minutes. 7. Remove the bag of chickpeas (they are now cooked). Put them in a container in the fridge, and use them later in any chickpea-related recipe! 8. Strain out the solids from the broth using a mesh strainer. For clearer broth, strain a second optional time through a nut milk bag. 9. Weigh the liquid in grams using a kitchen scale. Multiply the weight of your broth by 0.0075 to determine how much agar agar powder you will need. 10. Measure out the agar agar powder in grams according to the amount calculated in step 9. Do not add the powder to the broth just yet. 11. Place the broth on medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer again, around 190°F/88°C. Use a wooden spoon to stir the broth gently in a whirlpool motion. 12. Gradually sprinkle in the agar agar powder while stirring the broth. Continue to stir and simmer the broth for 30-45 seconds, holding it at 190°F/88°C in order to completely melt the agar powder. 13. Turn off the heat. Your vegan bone broth is ready! Keep a lid on the pot at all times when not serving.
**Vegan Bone Broth (Universal Method)**
* Dried chickpeas (1/3 Cup, or 65g, per Liter of water used in broth recipe) * Agar agar powder * One entire veggie broth recipe
**Method**
1. Soak dried chickpeas in water overnight, or for 8 – 24 hours. Soak in 1½ cups of water per 1/3 cup of chickpeas you use. Drain the chickpeas once they are soaked. 2. Place the drained chickpeas in a heatproof mesh bag or a nut milk bag, and tie off the top. Submerge this bag in your broth for its entire cooking time. 3. Make your veggie broth recipe. Your broth’s simmering should last anywhere between 60-75 minutes. 4. Remove the bag of chickpeas from the broth and store the chickpeas in a container in the refrigerator for later use. 5. Strain out the solids from your broth and weigh the liquid using a kitchen scale. Multiply the weight of your broth by 0.0075 to determine how much agar agar powder you will need. 6. Measure out the agar agar powder in grams according to the amount calculated in step 5. Do not add the powder to the broth just yet. 7. Place the broth on medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer again, around 190°F/88°C. Use a wooden spoon to stir the broth gently in a whirlpool motion. 8. Gradually sprinkle in the agar agar powder while stirring the broth. Continue to stir and simmer the broth for 30-45 seconds, holding it at 190°F/88°C in order to completely melt the agar powder. 9. Turn off the heat. Your vegan bone broth is ready! Keep a lid on the pot at all times when not serving.
4 Comments
In vegan ramen broth, there are no bones. Therefore, there is no gelatin and collagen, leaving vegan ramen broth without the subtle gelatinous mouthfeel that is universal in non-vegan ramen. A few years ago I theorized on [Way of Ramen’s podcast](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0djBhIqNTSzxjNzBamnccV?si=451ae856c3bd45dc&nd=1) about the use of agar agar (sea gel) to replicate this mouthfeel, but the idea was flawed.
If you add agar agar powder in a 0.1% ratio to your vegetable stock, it becomes just as thick and gelatinous as pork/chicken stock. But there is a catch. Agar agar powder melts above 180°F/82°C, and when the liquid has melted into drops below that temperature, it rapidly solidifies. The vegetable stock turns to jell-o as it approaches room temperature, long before your guest will have finished their ramen bowl.
I tested out a 0.075% ratio of agar agar to vegetable stock, and that ratio is just low enough to ensure that the stock does not turn to jell-o when at room temperature, as the presence of agar agar is miniscule. However, that also meant that the gelatinous mouthfeel of the stock when it was not as noticeable.
After a few years of brooding, aquafaba turned out to be my missing piece to bring the thickness to where it should be. Aquafaba is the often forgotten water that chickpeas are canned in. It’s full of protein, minerals, and starch. I realized that I could further thicken and enrich the vegan bone broth without over gelatinizing it if I combined agar agar and aquafaba to make one soup.
After a lot of soaked chickpeas, agar-ratio tests, and spreadsheeting, this recipe is the result! I hope you try it out and upgrade your next bowl of vegan ramen. Since I can’t post videos with the photos, here’s a [clip of the broth being scooped](https://imgur.com/a/NvYecq4), to show its texture.
**Vegan Bone Broth**
* 200g of dried chickpeas (about 1 Cup)
* 20g kombu
* 20g dried shiitake
* 10g sundried tomato
* 1 large sweet onion
* 2 medium carrots, sliced
* 4 ribs of celery, sliced
* 4-5 green onions, chopped
* 1 large russet potato, sliced
* 1 fuji apple, sliced
* 1” knob of ginger
* 1 head of garlic, cloves, peeled and smashed
* 10g parsley leaves and stems
* 1 tsp peppercorns
* 4 bay leaves
* Agar agar powder*
*Make sure you are using agar agar *powder*, rather than agar agar flakes
**Method**
1. Place the konbu, shiitake, and sundried tomato in 1L of water and let it soak in the fridge overnight, or for 8-24 hours. This makes dashi.
2. Place the dried chickpeas in 1L of water in a separate container and let it soak in the fridge overnight, or for 8-24 hours.
3. Place the dashi and the rest of the ingredients (excluding the chickpeas) into a large broth pot. Fill the pot with enough water to just barely cover the ingredients (about 2L).
4. Drain the soaked chickpeas, and place them in a heatproof mesh bag OR a nut milk bag. Tie off the top and submerge the bag in the pot.
5. Bring to a gentle simmer, around 190°F/88°C. Immediately remove the konbu to discard.
6. Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 65-70 minutes.
7. Remove the bag of chickpeas (they are now cooked). Put them in a container in the fridge, and use them later in any chickpea-related recipe!
8. Strain out the solids from the broth using a mesh strainer. For clearer broth, strain a second optional time through a nut milk bag.
9. Weigh the liquid in grams using a kitchen scale. Multiply the weight of your broth by 0.0075 to determine how much agar agar powder you will need.
10. Measure out the agar agar powder in grams according to the amount calculated in step 9. Do not add the powder to the broth just yet.
11. Place the broth on medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer again, around 190°F/88°C. Use a wooden spoon to stir the broth gently in a whirlpool motion.
12. Gradually sprinkle in the agar agar powder while stirring the broth. Continue to stir and simmer the broth for 30-45 seconds, holding it at 190°F/88°C in order to completely melt the agar powder.
13. Turn off the heat. Your vegan bone broth is ready! Keep a lid on the pot at all times when not serving.
**Vegan Bone Broth (Universal Method)**
* Dried chickpeas (1/3 Cup, or 65g, per Liter of water used in broth recipe)
* Agar agar powder
* One entire veggie broth recipe
**Method**
1. Soak dried chickpeas in water overnight, or for 8 – 24 hours. Soak in 1½ cups of water per 1/3 cup of chickpeas you use. Drain the chickpeas once they are soaked.
2. Place the drained chickpeas in a heatproof mesh bag or a nut milk bag, and tie off the top. Submerge this bag in your broth for its entire cooking time.
3. Make your veggie broth recipe. Your broth’s simmering should last anywhere between 60-75 minutes.
4. Remove the bag of chickpeas from the broth and store the chickpeas in a container in the refrigerator for later use.
5. Strain out the solids from your broth and weigh the liquid using a kitchen scale. Multiply the weight of your broth by 0.0075 to determine how much agar agar powder you will need.
6. Measure out the agar agar powder in grams according to the amount calculated in step 5. Do not add the powder to the broth just yet.
7. Place the broth on medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer again, around 190°F/88°C. Use a wooden spoon to stir the broth gently in a whirlpool motion.
8. Gradually sprinkle in the agar agar powder while stirring the broth. Continue to stir and simmer the broth for 30-45 seconds, holding it at 190°F/88°C in order to completely melt the agar powder.
9. Turn off the heat. Your vegan bone broth is ready! Keep a lid on the pot at all times when not serving.
[Instagram Version](https://www.instagram.com/p/CsFcZVELLPf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==)
Thanks! I’ll give it a go when I’ve time!
Thanks for sharing
Dunno how ethical it is to use vegan bones to make broth. Like I get that they’re technically grass fed, but…