Ramen ラーメン, nearly every region in Japan seams to have their own version. From different broths like shio (salt ramen) shoyu (soy sauce), miso, milk or Kare . Then there are straight or curly noodles of all different thickness. When visiting Japan be careful if your thinking of eating ramen in a ramen shop as not only are the the noodles made with egg but the broth will definitely have a animal based broth. There are some great vegan ramen places however so that won’t stop you from enjoying a tasty slurpy bowl of ramen goodness when your in Japan. One of my favourites is definitely T’s Tan Tan who have a restaurant in Jiyugaoka and ramen shops at Tokyo Station, Ikebukuro, and Narita airport.

There are also more places offering vegan ramen now so your sure to find something when your there.

You can also pick up vegan instant ramen which are the types I normally use either a brand called samurai or ohsawa. They do come with broth sachets but you can either use this or make your own. The ohsawa is hard to find outside of Japan but I have managed to find samurai at the Japan centre in London. Check out your own Asian grocery store.
Ramen hot or ramen cold ( hiyashichuka). However you like your ramen there are an abundance of toppings you can add which are great for vegans. From chopped green onion, sweetcorn, tofu, fu, kimchi, mushrooms,pakchoi, bamboo shoot and seaweed.
One popular topping is Ajitsuke tamago or seasoned egg. Why not make your ramen look even more authentic and make a vegan version.

You will need a silicone egg mould

To make the egg white.

1 and a half cups of cashew milk

3 tsp agar agar powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground or finely crushed kala namak ( Himalayan black salt ) this is what’s going to give your egg an egg flavour. This salt actually has many important minerals like iron, calcium and magnesium.

Pour the cashew milk into a blender, add black salt and agar agar and blend to combine. Pour into a pan and heat stirring continuously until it almost comes to a boil. Take off the heat and pour into your mould. Place this in the fridge to set. Wash out your blender.

Yolk

Emty a can of chickpeas but retain the water that’s  inside.

Add to your blender

1/2 cup of canned chick peas that have been warmed slightly so they are soft.
1/4 cup of aquafaba (the water in the check peas)

1/4 teaspoon of normal salt.
1/2 teaspoons of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast

Blend and pour into a bowl add 2 tablespoons of melted coconut butter like no odour tiana or a no odour oil like rapeseed. Mix

Take out your eggs from the fridge and gently pop them out of the mould. With a melon baller scoop out some of the white and spoon in some of the yolk mixture. I like to sprinkle a little powdered black salt on the top before serving. You can store the eggs in an air tight container in the fridge and they also freeze so you can put them in the freezer and take them out to thaw on the day you need them.

Making these are just a bit of fun and are more for aesthetics than the taste of a real egg. I also tried putting them in the microwave and they warm up great and makes the egg yolk runny. Have fun.