Soymilk ramen is popular in Kyoto, where soy products like yuba and tofu are a specialty and Buddhist vegetarianism is common. Soymilk ramen was invented in Kyoto by Chef Minoru Yonekawa in 2004.
This bowl is inspired by my time in Kyoto with homemade soy milk as the soup base. Soymilk is creamy and has a clean, beany, and sharp flavor. The tare is where we mix things up and add Chinese flavors.
The tare is a mix of the ingredients that oppose soymilk’s flavor without overtaking it. – Chinese fermented bean curd (fuyu) – cubes of tofu in brine – has a creamy, cheese-like texture with notes of alcohol, sesame, and butter. It’s super intimidating to some as an ingredient, but it is an umami bomb – white miso – light shoyu – sake lees – the byproduct of making sake, a mixture of rice, alcohol, and yeast. Packs a ton of umami, alcoholic bitterness, and floral notes – nutritional yeast flakes (nooch) – If you’re vegan you know and love it. Nooch adds savory cheesy and umami flavoring
The goal is to take soy milk’s creaminess and build on it with fermented, briny, and savory flavors. Once it’s all together, the broth has a ton of unami while keeping soymilk’s clean flavor.
With the addition of burnt garlic oil and shallot oil, this is far from what I had in Japan, but I’m proud of it. It’s my own tare and definitely a bowl with its own identity.
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Soymilk Ramen 🍜
Soymilk ramen is popular in Kyoto, where soy products like yuba and tofu are a specialty and Buddhist vegetarianism is common. Soymilk ramen was invented in Kyoto by Chef Minoru Yonekawa in 2004.
This bowl is inspired by my time in Kyoto with homemade soy milk as the soup base. Soymilk is creamy and has a clean, beany, and sharp flavor. The tare is where we mix things up and add Chinese flavors.
The tare is a mix of the ingredients that oppose soymilk’s flavor without overtaking it.
– Chinese fermented bean curd (fuyu) – cubes of tofu in brine – has a creamy, cheese-like texture with notes of alcohol, sesame, and butter. It’s super intimidating to some as an ingredient, but it is an umami bomb
– white miso
– light shoyu
– sake lees – the byproduct of making sake, a mixture of rice, alcohol, and yeast. Packs a ton of umami, alcoholic bitterness, and floral notes
– nutritional yeast flakes (nooch) – If you’re vegan you know and love it. Nooch adds savory cheesy and umami flavoring
The goal is to take soy milk’s creaminess and build on it with fermented, briny, and savory flavors. Once it’s all together, the broth has a ton of unami while keeping soymilk’s clean flavor.
With the addition of burnt garlic oil and shallot oil, this is far from what I had in Japan, but I’m proud of it. It’s my own tare and definitely a bowl with its own identity.
Looks great!
We do a soy milk tantan men at my yatai.
https://preview.redd.it/4liv96evynng1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3037e1b7decfcbfaaaaf88346c5b1d463f210cc9
wow i want to try this so bad
Song:
Money My Love, My Drug – Jared Falls
Looks incredible I would devour a bowl of that.
Isn’t burnt garlic terrible? I don’t understand what that oil is or why it would be good.
I’ve made spicy soy milk ramen and it was amazing. Excellent vegetarian/vegan alternative.
This looks absolutely incredible! I love the use of Chinese vinegar here, one of my favorite ingredients 😁
Is mayu actually burnt garlic oil?
I don’t know Japanese, but ma you 麻油 in Chinese is sesame oil, because 芝麻 is sesame
I’m in lent and wish I had access to this