Easy Vegetarian Ramen Recipe with Egg, Tofu & Miso (Comfort Food Ready in 30 Minutes)

This ramen started as a vegan recipe, turned into my own version over time, and became something my daughter now requests every time she visits...

This is a recipe from the Korean Vegan, with my own little twist. Where I live, not all of her ingredients are always easy to find.

I was vegan myself for seven years. That’s how I came across this recipe in the first place.

How I got here

I have a rare autoimmune disease.

About 10 years ago, I had the bright idea to type “how I healed myself from my autoimmune disease” into YouTube. That’s how I came across a doctor who says she once had lupus and, by coincidence (for a very particular reason), switched to a strict vegan diet. After that, there was no trace of lupus left in her blood.

(Check out her channel, you might find it interesting.)

That definitely got my attention!

So I kept digging. I found things like Forks Over Knives (Whole Food, Plant Based) and High Carb Hannah (High Carb, Low Fat). According to that way of eating, you only eat whole plant foods. No added fats, and you go very easy on salt and sugar.

I followed that for seven years.

What worked (and what didn’t)

It worked really well for my weight: in the first six months I lost 16 kilos (about 35 pounds), and the weight stayed off.

I also noticed some health improvements.

Because of my autoimmune condition, my blood vessels had hardened, and it was difficult (sometimes impossible) to draw blood or give injections. After a year or so on this plant-based diet, that actually improved.

But there were downsides too. I was eating a lot of fiber, and I felt bloated pretty much all day. At some point, it even became painful.

In the meantime, I’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis.

Both conventional doctors and alternative practitioners advised me to reintroduce some animal products into my diet. So these days, I’m no longer vegan.

That said, I still don’t eat a lot of meat. I just don’t really enjoy it that often.

My version of this ramen

I used to make this ramen fully plant-based, but now that I eat everything again, I simply add a real egg and regular milk (where the Korean Vegan uses an egg substitute and plant-based milk).

Ingredients

•

1/2 to 3/4 liter water

•

1/2 bouillon cube, crumbled

•

125 grams tofu, diced

•

1 onion, thinly sliced

•

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

•

1 egg

•

40 grams spaghetti (or other long noodles)

•

100 ml milk

•

About 5 different vegetables, including:

–

1 small (or 1/2 large) carrot, julienned

–

some cabbage, finely sliced

–

a leafy green

•

Optional: canned corn

•

1/4 sheet nori, cut into small strips

•

1–2 teaspoons miso

•

1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon smoked chili flakes in oil or sambal

•

Olive oil

•

A pinch of salt

How I make it

1

I heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and cook the tofu cubes until they’re golden brown. Then I take them out and set them aside.

2

In the same pan, I sauté the sliced onion with a small pinch of salt. (Adding a bit of salt helps the onions release moisture and soften more quickly.)

3

Then I pour in 1/2 to 3/4 liter of water and bring it to a boil.

4

I add the crumbled bouillon cube and the chopped garlic, give it a quick stir, and then start arranging the vegetables in the pan, little by little, just like the Korean Vegan does.

5

I place the vegetables around the edges of the pan, and finally, in the center, I add a handful of broken spaghetti.

6

When the spaghetti is almost cooked, I crack a raw egg—keeping the yolk intact—into the pan.

7

In the meantime, I mix the miso, smoked chili oil (or sambal), and milk together in a small bowl.

8

Once the egg is cooked, I take the pan off the heat, pour in the milk mixture, add the fried tofu, and finish it off with some nori.

How I serve it

I serve it just like that, straight from the pan. And I eat it with chopsticks and a small stone spoon.

It’s incredibly delicious—and above all, very comforting.

Why this dish matters to me

Whenever my daughter visits me in Amsterdam from New York, she always asks me to make this for her. Even when I ask her what she’d like for her birthday, this is what she requests.

Why?

It’s healthy comfort food (no guilt!) and that rich umami flavor is just so warming.

Final note

Thanks to The Korean Vegan for the inspiration!

Be sure to watch her video below—not just to see how she makes this ramen, but also to hear a beautiful, comforting story about what this dish means to her.

And if you click through to YouTube, you can also check exactly which ingredients she uses.

What about you?

Would you give this ramen a try? Or do you have your own version?

If you end up making it, I’d love to hear how it turned out—so let me know in the comments. And if it feels like something worth sharing, pass it on to someone who could use a bit of comforting food.

Photo: wang binghua