vegan ramen recipes

Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Italian, Noodles, Vegan

Vegan Bulgogi Ramen Bolognese

Posted on March. 2022March. 2022 by writinstuff

Sometimes you get a very specific craving for a dish and it might not exist yet or make any sense but you really want it. So what do you do?

Hack it, of course!

There’s been no secrets here regarding my love of Asian food and my even greater love of the almighty noodle. I’ve made Gochujang Spiced Vegan Chicken, Mushrooms & Rice, Vegan Meatball Coconut Curry & Noodles, and even Asian Fusion Risotto. One of my favorite vegan Asian recipes, and most popular, is the Sushi Salad Bowl, so I guess you could say I’m a bit obsessed.

Obsessed and proud of it, thank you very much.

But that all brings me to the point of today’s post and recipe. I had a craving for Bolognese but I also wanted Ramen noodles so I wondered to myself, how can I achieve combining these two things while keeping it healthy and vegan and delicious. My first step was to hit up the ol’ Google Machine to see what kind of ingredient substitutions I needed to make for the Bolognese ingredients.

My second step? Making sure I had those substitutions or something close to it so that I could make it NOW. This is the result. *Gong Gong*.

I don’t know, I felt like the Law & Order gongs were appropriate right here, or maybe I’m just stoked that the OG Law & Order is back on television. 🙂

Vegan Bulgogi Bolognese with Ramen recipe.

So I’m going to tell you right off the bat that the ingredients list is intimidating but only at first glance. Stick with me and you won’t be disappointed.

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Asian Food, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Soup, Vegan

Easy Plant Based Vegan Lunch Recipe ~ Veggie Ramen & Miso Soup

Posted on November. 2021October. 2021 by writinstuff

It’s no secret that one of my biggest food weaknesses is noodles. Whether it’s Fire Noodles, or a peanut butter soba noodle dish, or a vegan noodle soup, I love it. I want it. I need it. I’ll take a double portion of someone else is making it vegan.

And when I’m feeling a little bit lazy or if I just want noodles, I will dig around in the veggie crisper, grab a few favorites and combine them with ramen or udon or soba or…whatever else is out there that I can buy or get shipped to me. When the weather dips a little, add a tiny bowl of soup using the waste free broth I keep on hand, and BAM, a quick and easy vegan lunch.

Have you ever felt like having Miso soup but you don’t have all the ingredients? Me too. I’ve looked into the ethnic food aisles in Germany and Romania and you know what? NONE of them are vegan. They all have some type of fish flakes in them so you have to improvise, and that’s how I came up with my own version of vegan miso soup.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Soup, Vegan

Pickled Wood Ear Mushrooms & Vegan Snow Pea Ramen

Posted on May. 2021May. 2021 by writinstuff

This week is crazy busy for me so I’ll keep this post short without skimping on the details or photos of the finished product. This weekend my partner and I went out for a long walk that became super abbreviated about halfway through, thanks to an impromptu rain storm. It didn’t last long but we were proper chilled when we made it back to our place and all thoughts of cold salad were out the window in favor of soup.

Sort of.

I found FRESH wood ear mushrooms and I was so excited to recreate these pickled mushrooms I had at one of the few Asian style restaurants in Ploiesti. But wood ear mushrooms aren’t a meal, especially when you only have 200 grams of them. So then I thought of soup. And then ramen.

And that’s how I ended up with this vegan restaurant style Asian lunch for two.

Vegan mince & snow pea ramen, Nori & scallion soup & pickled wood ear mushrooms

For the soup: Ginger, garlic, lemongrass, scallions & nori with my waste free broth. Simmered for 20 minutes and then ready to go!

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Sauces & Creams, Vegan

Broccoli Ramen with Ginger Soy Gravy

Posted on April. 2021April. 2021 by writinstuff

It’s that time again, where my noodle addiction takes over and I am forced to share with you yet another ramen noodle dish. For those of you who love a good vegan Asian noodle dish, here we are again.

For the rest of you, #notsorry!

This recipe is easy and I have more editing to do today, so we’ll make this quick and relatively painless.

If you work from home this is a very easy vegan lunch recipe because it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients but each one is packed with flavor so your taste buds don’t skip a step.

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Asian Food, Bowls, International vegan cuisine, Noodles, Plant Based, Vegan

Fire Noodles & Mongolian Style Tofu

Posted on March. 2021March. 2021 by writinstuff

These days I’m loving the mix & match meals that my partner and I have been enjoying. What is a ‘mix & match’ meal, you ask?

Easy, it’s a meal that can actually be two separate meals but you decide to put’em together to create something vegan and delicious. Some people, fancier people than me, might call it fusion but it’s not meant to be a modern statement on any particular cuisine type or anything like that, just a way for the greedy vegan in you to enjoy two things at once.

My hubs wanted Mongolian style vegan beef and fire noodles, and he asked which one would be easier to make and since he was so sweet to ask…I made them both.

The recipe name might not be pretty and to be honest, my photos leave A LOT to be desired. But what you really want to know is, was it delicious?

Hell yeah, it was!

You might think that making two separate dishes is more time consuming, but it’s not. Well, not as long as you do a little bit of prep work.

Step one: Gather your ingredients

I made enough for two adults who eat proper portion sizes, so use that as your best estimate for how much to use, or sign up for Cronometer or any other calorie tracking app. If you’re not there yet, consult the nutrition information on the package.

Step Two: Hydrate the TVP
Obviously if you’re using tofu or seitan or tempeh, you can just follow those instructions, but I used TVP so if you do that, I recommend getting it going as early as possible.

Step Three: Cook ginger, onion, chili pepper, garlic & scallions
I didn’t use any oil, just a bit of water to get it going before seasoning, but cook your veggies how you like.

Step Four: Add TVP to air fryer
I wanted the soy to be nice and crispy before adding it to the vegetables and sauce, if you want it less crispy, drain the TVP and toss it right in once the vegetables are done.

Step Five & Six: Make the SAUCE
The Mongolian sauce is soy sauce based with brown sugar and a cornstarch slurry to thicken. I added chili peppers and Korean chili flakes to spice it up, but you can add ketchup or bbq sauce or premade teriyaki sauce if you like.

For the fire noodles, I used Korean chili paste, butter, tomato paste, spicy mustard and water to thin out the sauce just enough that it was easy to toss the ramen noodles with it.

and there you have it, a quick and easy vegan dinner that will satisfy your craving for noodles, Mongolian beef or just Asian food in general. Don’t be afraid to improvise and taste as you go along.

What’s your favorite vegan mix & match meal?

Asian Food, Curry, Grains, Herbs, Pasta, Plant Based, Vegan

Spicy Broccoli & Tofu Noodles

Posted on November. 2018November. 2018 by writinstuff

One of my favorite things is noodles. Asian style noodles. I love them all from the delicious buckwheat taste of soba noodles to rice noodles (thick or thin) and of course, ramen. But I also adore Udon noodles, glass noodles, wok noodles and all the undiscovered noodles out there waiting for me. I. Love. Them.

And most of all, I keep a good stock in my pantry so that when I’m at a loss for what to make for lunch or dinner, or if I don’t feel like having what’s on the menu, I hunt down veggies and pantry staples, grab a pack of noodles and I’m good to go. That’s pretty much how this dish came to be.

The best part is that, despite how complicated the dish seems, it’s really simple to make. For the ramen, all you need is boiling water but be sure to read the instructions carefully because sometimes you boil them for a few minutes and others you let them sit in the water for about five minutes. These were the simple boil for three minutes and they’re done, but I really loved that these particular noodles had only three ingredients: rice flour, turmeric and water.

Turmeric! An amazing anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant that also provides increased brain function and helps stave off brain diseases.

I just used what i had on hand which was a half floret of broccoli, half a brick of tofu, onion, red bell pepper, garlic and ginger. I topped it with sliced scallions and these amazing purple sprouts that were beet sprouts which I found surprisingly delicious considering that beets are one of about three vegetables that my taste buds don’t like.

For this recipe I did use oil, cold pressed olive oil BUT just a half tablespoon which I heated and mixed with the ginger, garlic and two types of curry. As soon as that hearty aromatic scent hit the air, add the vegetables. You can add the tofu last but I cooked it separately in a small skillet so brown it around the edges.

TIP: Give your tofu extra flavor by cutting and marinating it. For this recipe I used soy sauce, garlic powder and curry. I did it first so it sat getting flavorful while I chopped and did everything else.

This is yet another thing I love about Asian cuisine, you can fancy it up or enjoy a quick and rustic style meal. And if you’re a picky vegetable eater you’re not beholden to anyone’s recipe, just use what you already have on hand.

I’m sure you’re wondering where the ‘spicy’ in this recipe came from and the answer is mostly the pinch of red curry and the half Thai chili pepper I used but I removed the seeds because I LOVE it spicy but the hubs…doesn’t. So in the spirit of compromise I just decorated my plate with a bit of Sriracha. Okay, more than a bit.

Sue me, I like it spicy!

Let me know your favorite noodle dish and I just might make it!