Ramen side dishes for ramen soup

In addition to the noodles and broth, the garnishes used are a key feature of ramen and add the finishing touches to the soup.

When it comes to side dishes, there are countless variations and combinations.

Side dishes often include meats and fish, vegetables, including wan tan, fried or boiled eggs, and more.

Some of the typical side dishes are

Nori (海苔 or のり – roasted seaweed).
Negi (ネギ – spring onions)
Shinachiku (支那竹 – pickled bamboo shoots)
Tuna
Kamaboko (蒲鉾 – pureed fish meat pressed into shape and steamed).
Yakibuta (焼豚 – pork ham)
Chāshū (チャーシュ- or 叉焼 – roasted or boiled pork).
Chicken
Spinach
Spring onions
Corn
Shiitake mushrooms
Ajitsuke tamago (味付け玉子 – eggs pickled in soy sauce)

Nori 海苔 or のり roasted seaweed.

Norialgae is a special river algae. For consumption, this alga is dried and pressed. The typical taste of the nori seaweed comes from roasting. Norialgae usually come into the trade as leaves. Many know Norialgen also from making sushi. But also in the ramen soup these special green and red algae may not be missing. There are about 30 different algae that can be processed into norialgae.

Norialgen captivate with a particularly mild aroma. This is because they are freshwater algae that grow mainly in estuaries. Due to the roasting Nori also taste slightly nutty and have a subtly sweet finish. They provide a wonderful balance in the ramen.

Norialgen are available in any Asia store or online. It is important that you always store the nori in a dry and airtight container. The humidity alone can cause the algae to become unstable very quickly. If this should ever happen, you can chop the nori seaweed very small and use it for seasoning.

The nori seaweed is always placed on the ramen just before serving. This preserves the delicious crunch.

Negi ネギ spring onions

This spring onion should also not be missing from any ramen dish. Compared to a conventional onion, Negi onion is significantly milder. It impresses with a spicy but digestible pungency. Negi is very aromatic and smells like strong chives.

The ramen is sprinkled with fine rings of the negi. Both the white and green parts of the scallion are used for the ramen. While the white parts of the negi are added to the broth, the green rings of the spring onion serve as a tasty decoration.

Shopping tip: Negiz onions are often listed as winter onions in Asian stores.

Shinachiku 支那竹 pickled bamboo shoots

Bamboo shoots are highly valued throughout the Asian region. Shinachiku, pickled bamboo shoots, are popular for ramen dishes. They are pickled in a light vinegar broth, or fermented with salt. Both variants make the bamboo shoots soft and digestible.

Shinachiku give the ramen a slightly sour note. This is enormously important in Japanese food culture. Every dish here should be perfectly balanced. This means that sweet, salty, sour, spicy and also bitter or earthy components should be combined in every dish.

In addition, the bamboo shoots have a slight crunch. But the health benefits of bamboo shoots are also highly appreciated in Japan. Bamboo shoots provide many vitamins and are very rich in iron. For this they have hardly any carbohydrates and few calories. Bamboo shoots also have a mild draining effect and are detoxifying.

Tuna

As with sushi, tuna is the absolute must-have in Japanese ramen. The fish is sliced paper-thin for the ramen and the hot broth is poured over it. This is enough to cook it perfectly.

The fish is also often marinated in various marinades beforehand. You can thus give the fish the preferred touch. Maybe you like it spicy, then choose a chili-based marinade. Traditionally, a dark, sweet soy sauce is also popular for marinating. You can also resort to smoked tuna.

Yakibuta 焼豚 pork ham

The pork is cooked in a strong broth with soy sauce for the yakibuta. For the ramen, this particular pork ham is then cut into thin slices.

Yakibuta gives the ramen the desired salty note. With a nice serving of pork ham, the ramen dish becomes a great, filling main course. If you want to prepare the yakibuta ham yourself, you should simmer the pork for several hours. This also allows you to control the intensity yourself and experiment with various soy sauces.

Chāshū チャーシュー or 叉焼 roasted or boiled pork.

Also Chāshū is pork, which is absolutely popular in Japan. For Chāshū, however, the pig is grilled or braised. However, it is also cut into small, bite-sized slices for the ramen.

The pork seduces with great and strong roasted flavors. For Chāshū like to use nicely pulled through piece of pork. Excellent for this purpose is pork belly. This is properly marinated before roasting or braising. It is best to leave the meat in the marinade overnight. For the marinade, it is best to use a paste of ginger, mirin, honey, soy sauce, pepper, green onion, sake and garlic.

Spinach

Leaf spinach is used for ramen. For this, it is best to reach for young, tender spinach or baby leaf spinach. The baby leaf spinach is usually placed raw on the ramen and only the hot broth is poured over it. If you want to cook the spinach a bit, you can also blanch it lightly in some broth beforehand.

The spinach leaves provide slightly tart, bitter and earthy accents to the ramen. In addition, the color is also enormously important. In Asia, people love colorful food. Therefore, the leaf spinach is not cooked for a long time, so that the rich, green color is preserved.

Corn

Corn is also an important ingredient in the ramen. It comes in a wide variety of forms. In the ramen they use either yellow sweet corn, but also white or black corn.

In addition, people also like to cut small baby corn cobs into rings and drape them on the ramen. The corn kernels or cobs must be steamed in advance. These are then briefly tossed in a little butter and a touch of palm sugar before being allowed to go into the ramen bowl.

Shiitaki mushrooms

Shiitaki mushroom is very aromatic and popular throughout Asia. The mushroom has a very intense and distinctive flavor. Shiitaki mushroom is rich in vitamins and is considered a super food in Asia. It strengthens the immune system, protects the vessels and the heart, and also has few calories.

Shiitake mushrooms are now also available in Germany in many supermarkets and even at the discounter. You can also find these mushrooms fresh in the Asian store. Dried shiitaki are also often used. However, these must be soaked in water before use.

In Japan, the mushroom is usually placed raw and thinly sliced on the ramen. Then pour the hot broth over the shiitaki. However, the mushroom becomes more digestible if it is briefly and very spicy sautéed before use.

Chicken eggs and co pickled in soy sauce

For this variation, the chicken eggs are boiled and soaked in the soy sauce. This gives them a very strong and salty note. However, you can also flavor the chicken eggs with a sweet taste. For this, just use a dark, sweet soy sauce for pickling.

The so-called 100-year-old chicken eggs are also often used for ramen. To do this, they are marinated for several days with the peel. The marinade penetrates the shell and the protein turns black and takes on a gelatinous appearance. The yolk also becomes black and creamy.

The chicken eggs are cut into wedges or slices and placed on top of the pasta. The chicken eggs not only have a flavor and visual role in the ramen. In Asia, these are also a sign of prosperity and health.

For the ramen are used both chicken eggs, but also duck eggs or gladly also the small quail eggs. Quail eggs are usually fried in batter and added to ramen soup.

Chicken- duck or quail egg

The chicken, duck or quail egg also often enhances the ramen raw. To do this, drop the chicken egg into the boiling hot broth and whisk. Often, the chicken eggs are also previously whisked with soy sauce, garlic and ginger for this purpose.

Kamaboko 蒲鉾 pureed fish meat pressed into shape and steamed.

Kamaboko can be well compared with surimi. It is a farce of white fish meat, which is pressed into certain shapes and then steamed or boiled. This allows the kamaboko to be placed in the ramen as is and just pour the hot soup over it.

For ramen, there are a variety of different kamabokos in Japan. They also like to be colored with food coloring. They are also very popular as balls, balls, slices, or in fish shapes. For children, there are kamabokos with smiling smiley faces.

Kamaboko tastes mildly fishy and slightly sweet. You can get the kamabokos in any Asia store. There you will find them in the refrigerated section or also as frozen goods.

Chicken

Chicken is a popular food in Asia. Therefore, chicken is also very popular in ramen. The chicken is steamed, boiled or fried beforehand and then cut into thin slices. Like all the ingredients in a ramen soup, the chicken goes on the noodles in bite-sized pieces.

You can marinate the chicken beforehand to your liking. Again, a marinade of soy sauce, ginger, honey and garlic is excellent.