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A delicious bowl of quick and easy ramen is just what you need when you’re looking for a big cosy bowl of comfort. This is a homemade version of shin ramen so no flavour packets are used here but I promise it’s pretty much just as easy since you mix a paste and then add stock. The shin ramen noodles are topped here with crispy pork, and a whole host of toppings which you can customise as you like. This is the perfect weeknight bowl of pork ramen that takes around 20 minutes from start to finish.
How to make the pork ramen paste
For the ramen paste, you have to mix together a few cupboard ingredients. These cupboard essentials will last a long time so they are all worth buying now and then you can make this easy pork ramen a regular staple in your rotation.
- Sriracha, a spicy and bright red hot sauce that uses Thai chillies and vinegar.
- Honey, to add sweetness and balance
- Soy sauce, for both salt and umami flavour
- Sesame oil, the sesame flavour works very well with the pork flavour
- Mirin, a Japanese staple that adds sweetness and sharpness.
- Peanut butter, might sound odd in a ramen but it makes the broth thick and adds great flavour
How to make the pork ramen broth
The ramen broth is simple, as the majority of the flavour comes from the paste. But this recipe is a bit different as it doesn’t only use chicken stock as the broth base. We also add milk to this pork ramen, which might sound untraditional, but it adds a creamy element to the ramen broth that rounds out the whole recipe. You could use whatever milk you like, it doesn’t have to just be dairy. Soy milk would work really well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mirin is similar to sake (Japanese wine) but chances are if you don’t have mirin in your cupboard, you’re equally unlikely to have sake. Replace the mirin with rice wine vinegar or a dry white wine if you have it. Just add a little more honey too to counteract the sourness.
You can use tahini if you have it. If you don’t have either, just leave the peanut butter out but you will end up with a slightly less thick broth so it won’t coat the noodles as well.
Any type of noodle will work in this easy pork ramen. Just follow their own cooking times when you add to the broth. We like egg noodles, rice noodles or even udon noodles.
We like to top it with a boiled egg that still has a jammy centre and lots of chilli oil. But use whatever you like, this would also be great with seaweed on top, spring onions or sesame seeds.
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Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 20 g sriracha
- 10 g honey
- 20 g soy sauce
- 20 g sesame oil
- 20 g mirin
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
For the ramen:
- 200 g pork mince
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 700 ml chicken stock
- 200 ml milk
- 150 g egg noodles
- Veg oil
To garnish:
- Pak choy
- Bamboo shoots
- Mange tout
- Sesame seeds
- 1 carrot, finely sliced
- Spring onion, chopped
- Chilli oil, for drizzling
- Shredded seaweed
- 1 egg, soft boiled for 6 1/2 minutes
Instructions
- In a small bowl simply mix together all the sauce ingredients.
- The add a little oil to a large frying pan and fry the mince over medium-high until crispy. You want it to go lovely and crispy, so just leave it alone for a minute or so and don’t stir too much. Once it’s golden and crispy, add 2 tbsp of the sauce. Cook for another 30 seconds.
- Remove the mince from the pan, tip into a bowl and set aside. In the same pan, add a little more oil and then the garlic, ginger and spring onion and fry until soft. This will take a few minutes. Once soft, add the stock, milk and the rest of the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer then add the noodles.
- Add the vegetables into the pan and cook for the final few minutes.
- Once the noodles and veg are cooked, divide into bowls and top with the crispy pork mince and any other chosen toppings such as a jammy egg or seaweed.
We eat ramen perhaps once per week and sometimes I’ll buy a pre made ramen stock, but if I have time I’ll make this as it is delicious and easy to follow. The milk is a great addition to the broth, and the peanut butter adds a nice creaminess and texture. We’ll substitute the veg depending on what we have but this is always a winner for us.
This is an absolutely delicious version of ramen! I didn’t have the named veggies to use, but broccolini and shiitake mushrooms worked really well. The flavors came together so smoothly and the consistency of the broth was fantastic. Thanks so much for this creative recipe! I’ll definitely be back for more of your ideas.
I really liked this dish. I quite often use peanut butter in this way but my other half didn’t really like the thickness that the peanut butter gave to the broth, he prefers a thinner broth for ramen. I suppose it could be left out but for me it works really well. I didn’t have any sriracha sauce so I used Korean gochujang paste instead which I thought worked well. I loved the crispy pork on top. I will definitely make this again, it was like a big comforting hug.