15 Minute Spicy Ramen

This spicy ramen is made in just about 15 minutes with a soy-ginger broth that’s perfectly spicy and savory. Perfect topped with soft boiled eggs, green onions, nori, or chicken, pork or tofu, it’s an excellent and budget friendly lunch. Use basic ramen noodles or gluten free – talk about a ramen hack or upgrade!

Why This Recipe Is So Good

• This spicy ramen hack has everything we love about restaurant-style ramen, but at home! Rich broth, jammy soft-boiled eggs, and spicy and umami seasonings make this the perfect Japanese comfort food. Even better, the noodles are just from packs of 25¢ ramen, so this recipe is cheap and easy to make again and again!
• This recipe uses traditional Asian ingredients, like miso paste, nori, sambal oelek, and togarashi for an authentic taste. Though they sound fancy, most of these ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery or online, or even make at home.
• Take your spicy ramen to the next level by adding shredded chicken, pork, or even tofu, or use gluten free noodles instead of traditional ramen. It’s easy to customize this hack even further to fit your tastes and dietary needs.

How To Make It

1. Cook your eggs now, or make them ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to use. (See notes on some tips on how to make the perfect soft-boiled eggs.)
2. Combine the broth, ginger, garlic, miso, sambal oelek, soy sauce, sesame oil, and vinegar in a saucepan. Bring everything to a boil and the reduce heat to let simmer. Keep at a simmer for 10 minutes, then spoon out the ginger and garlic slices.
3. Add the dried noodles and cook until they are soft. Use tongs to divide the noodles evenly between two bowls. Cover with broth and top with halved eggs, scallions, black sesame seeds or togarashi, and nori.

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Chef’s Tips

• To make perfect soft-boiled eggs, cook for 6-7 minutes in boiling water. If you have an Instant Pot, cook 1 minute at low pressure, then immediately do a quick release. With an air fryer, cook for 7-9 minutes at 300º. With all three methods, make sure you place the eggs in a bowl of ice water immediately after cooking.
• For vegan ramen, use vegetable broth, leave out eggs, and add tofu, if desired.

So, What Are All These Ingredients?

Miso paste is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It’s made from fermented soybeans, salt, and kōji, which is a mold used in making soy sauce, sake, and other foods. Its flavor is what’s often called “umami” in Japanese cuisine, which is savory.

Sambal oelek is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste that frequently contains other ingredients such as ginger, rice vinegar, garlic, and lime juice. It adds the perfect kick to your ramen, and is easy to find in stores or to make your own.

Nori means “sea vegetable” in Japanese and is edible seaweed. It’s usually sold in sheets. If you’re a fan of sushi, you’ve definitely tasted nori before.

Shichimi togarashi is a seasoning blend made from 7 spices, usually red chili peppers, Japanese peppers, orange peel, sesame seeds, ginger, nori, and other seeds. If you are unable to find any, you can use just black sesame seeds instead, although shichimi togarashi is easy to find for pretty cheap online.

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