Easy Shoyu Ramen in 30 Minutes

A real bowl of shoyu ramen — not instant noodles with an egg — is a 30-minute project in a Hong Kong flat if you buy the noodles, use a quick stock and make a tare that keeps for weeks. Everything here cooks on one induction ring with no oven.

Cooking hub: How to Make Ramen at Home in a Hong Kong Kitchen. Components: Anatomy of a Ramen Bowl. Site hub: Ramen in Hong Kong: The Complete Local Guide.

Serves 2. Time about 30 minutes. You need a 1-litre saucepan, a small pan and a fine strainer. Shopping: fresh ramen noodles (2 portions), 700 ml chicken stock, a 10 cm piece of kombu, soy sauce, mirin, sake, spring onion, 2 eggs, and chashu or sliced pork belly.

🛒 1. Ingredients

• 2 portions fresh ramen noodles (Japanese supermarket, Donki or wet-market alkaline noodles)
• 700 ml chicken stock (home-made or a low-salt carton), plus 10 cm kombu
• Shoyu tare: 60 ml soy sauce, 30 ml mirin, 30 ml sake, 1 tsp sugar, a 3 cm square of kombu
• 2 tsp rendered chicken fat or neutral oil
• 2 eggs
• 4 slices chashu or quickly pan-fried pork belly
• Spring onion, nori, menma (optional)

🔥 2. Method

1. Start the eggs: boil 6½–7 minutes, ice bath, peel (see the ramen egg recipe).
2. Make the tare: simmer soy, mirin, sake, sugar and kombu for 5 minutes; remove kombu. Keep the rest refrigerated for next time (see tare recipes).
3. Heat the stock with the kombu to just below a boil for 10 minutes; remove the kombu before it boils to avoid bitterness.
4. Warm two bowls. Add 30 ml tare and 1 tsp chicken fat to each.
5. Boil the noodles in a separate pan of unsalted water for the time on the pack (usually 60–120 seconds); drain hard.
6. Pour 350 ml hot stock into each bowl over the tare, add noodles, lift them with chopsticks to straighten, then top with pork, halved egg, spring onion and nori.

🧂 3. Adjusting

Too salty: more stock, less tare next time. Too thin: add a second teaspoon of fat or a splash of the chashu braising liquid. The component logic is in anatomy of a ramen bowl; the shoyu style itself in shoyu ramen.

🧊 4. Batching

Tare keeps a month refrigerated; stock freezes flat in zip bags (how to freeze ramen broth); chashu keeps four days (chashu for Hong Kong flats). The mistakes to avoid are in common home-ramen mistakes.

Do not boil the noodles in the broth. Starch clouds the soup and the kansui taste leaches in; always cook noodles in separate water. For soft eggs, follow the food-safety note in the ajitama page.

❓ FAQ

Can I use dried noodles? Yes; choose Japanese dried ramen rather than instant blocks and cook to the pack time.

Carton stock or home-made? Low-salt carton stock works for a first bowl; the kombu step adds the depth it lacks.

How do I make it lighter? Skip the fat and use half the tare; see low-sodium ramen at home.