Easy High Protein Ramen Recipe with Soy Marinaded Eggs
Ramen has a shockingly high amount of protein in it!
Ramen is an anomaly in the world of cooking for me. It’s one of those dishes that can range from simple to complex both in terms of flavors and the amount of work that goes into making it. This recipe will give you some bold, slightly complex flavors, with not too much effort. You can cater the grams of protein in here based on your diet very easily. So if you are looking to have a high protein ramen meal than you can add more eggs or meat. The most important thing to remember about cooking is that it should be fun!
Here are a few things to consider when making ramen at home.
The first is, that you must use ramen noodles. I know what you’re thinking, DUH, right? You’d be surprised. Not all noodles are created equal. Ramen noodles are alkaline noodles and are totally different than regular pasta. If you’re making ramen, you need to use ramen noodles. Don’t use egg noodles. Don’t use glass noodles. You better not use fucking spaghetti. You can even use the instant noodles you find in the instant ramen noodles packets. But be sure to hang on to those flavor packets for future use! Go to the Asian market and buy ramen noodles. You know what? Here’s your next tip. Buy all of the ingredients for this dish at your local Asian market. You will simply get better quality ingredients for East Asian cooking at an Asian market.
If you don’t live in an area that has an Asian market, try Whole Foods or another higher-end grocery store or specialty market. These are also great places to get nutritious meal ingredients to add to your ramen such as bean sprouts, bok choy, etc.
One last tip before we jump in!
My last tip, make the eggs first. Check out our Six Minute Soy Marinated Egg recipe for the specifics, but no ramen dish is complete without these eggs. These are soft-boiled eggs. Please don’t even try to use hard-boiled eggs. Ok, last tip. I promise. Use tamari instead of soy sauce. Trust me. It’s just a better flavor profile.
Here is what you will need to make high-protein ramen.
For the broth:
- 4 cups of quality chicken broth or stock (we prefer stock)
- 2 cups water
- 8-10 shitake mushrooms
- 4 whole sheets of nori
- 1 1/2 cups tamari
- 6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- About 3oz of fresh ginger, roughly chopped
For the pork:
Note – this marinade will be good for about four pork chops
- 1 cup tamari
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 2 tablespoons chili oil
- 2 tablespoons ginger powder
Time to cook!
Please keep in mind that this ramen can be cooked with your protein of choice. Substituting ingredients is an easy way to hit your protein intake. I already mentioned that the egg should be the first thing that you make as it needs a solid five to six hours to marinate. The pork, on the other hand, only needs about 2 hours to marinade, so make this after the eggs.
To make the marinade, simply combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined. Pour the marinade over the pork chops, cover and refrigerate for about two hours.
Depending on what sort of container you marinading in, you may need to turn the pork chops to make sure they’re coated throughout. If you’re marinading in a Ziploc bag, give the bag a shake midway through the marinade to make sure everything is fully coated.
Once the pork chops are done marinading, take them out of the refrigerator and bring them back to room temperature. Set your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the pork chops from the marinade and let the excess marinade drip off. Place the pork chops in a baking dish and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. If your pork chops are thicker, you might need more time in the oven. Use a meat thermometer to check if you are unsure.
Halfway to high-protein ramen!
While the pork is cooking, start on your ramen broth. In your pot, add a drizzle of sesame oil over medium heat. I’ll be the first to admit that this is probably not a traditional ramen, or even correct, technique. Usually, you’d cook with a neutral-flavored oil or olive oil, but I personally feel that the strong flavor of good sesame oil adds a certain depth to this ramen bowl. Once the oil is heated, add in the ginger and garlic and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes.
When the garlic and ginger are fragrant, add in your liquids; stock, water, and tamari. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the broth has come to a boil, add in the nori sheets. Stir them in until the nori sheets turn soft and pliable. Cover and reduce to a simmer.
Leave it to simmer!
Let it simmer on the stove for about 20 minutes. After the broth has been simmering, taste it. You may need to add more tamari but do it to your own taste. You may even want to add more nori sheets. I usually end up adding some more tamari as some of the flavors may have boiled off. Once the broth is ready, strain out the solids; the nori, garlic, and ginger. Make sure you don’t accidentally dump out the broth. I’ve definitely made this mistake before when making ramen broth and I’ve never felt stupider.
Home stretch!
Put the broth back in the pot and bring it back to a simmer. Once the ramen broth is back up to temperature, toss in the shitake mushrooms. Let the mushrooms cook for about 8 minutes. This will not only cook your mushrooms but add that great shitake mushroom flavor to your ramen broth.
While the broth is cooking, bring a second pot of water to a boil. Now, I shouldn’t need to tell you that cooking ramen noodles is not the same as cooking pasta in Italian cooking. What does that mean here? Do NOT salt the water. Ramen noodles do not need to be salted and there is plenty of salt from the tamari in the broth and marinades. Salting your ramen noodle-cooking water will not ruin the ramen noodles by any means, but it’s not adding anything at all. But, while you don’t need the salt in the water, you should still cook the noodles al dente. This will ensure a delicious ramen experience.
No one wants mushy noodles!
It doesn’t matter what cuisine you’re cooking, nobody wants mushy noodles and if you do…stop. Get help. Once the noodles are cooked and your broth is ready, it is time to plate, or bowl I guess, your ramen bowl. Using a pair of tongs, place your noodles at the base of your ramen bowl. Arrange your mushrooms and pork slices on top. Ladle over the pork and noodles about three spoonfuls of the ramen broth.
Take your soy-marinaded egg, slice it in half, and place it on top of the ramen bowl. That beautiful orange yolk should be just a little runny. Sprinkle some chopped scallions on top and step back to marvel at your work. This is the perfect bowl of ramen for a high-protein meal at home! If you like this recipe check out some of our other recipes!
FAQ
Absolutely! Pork is one of the leanest meats out there and you can load this up with whatever vegetables you enjoy!
You can keep this in the fridge for up to 3 days. We suggest not storing this with the noodles in the brother but separately so that they do not get too mushy.
Absolutely! We love this with pork belly or chicken thighs, but you could also put beef in here as well! I would cater the broth you are using to the meat you decide to use.
Simple High Protein Pork Ramen
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Description
This protein-packed ramen is quick and easy and will quench any cravings!
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 4 pork boneless pork chops
- 1 cup of Tamari
- 1/2 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
- 1/4 Mirin
- 2 tablespoons Chili Oil
- 2 tablespoons Ginger Powder
For the Broth:
- 4 cups of Chicken Broth or Stock (we prefer stock)
- 2 cups water
- 8–10 shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 4 whole sheets of nori, torn into smaller pieces
- 1 1/2 cups of tamari
- 6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 3 ounces of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
Recipe for Soy Sauce Egg
Instructions
- If you want to include a soy-cured egg with this ramen for extra protein please follow this recipe.
- Let’s marinade the pork. In a shallow baking dish or a ziplock bag place your boneless pork chops. In a bowl whisk tamari, rice vinegar, mirin, chili oil and ginger powder. Pour this mixture over your pork and allow to marinade in your fridge for anywhere from 2 hours to overnight.
- Once the pork chops are done marinading, take them out of the fridge and allow them to come to comm temp. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and cook your pork in the oven for 25 minutes.
- While your pork is cooking in the oven we will make the broth. In a medium saucepan, add a drizzle of sesame oil.
- Once the oil is heated, add your ginger and garlic to the sauce pot. Cook this string continually until they are fragrant, about 3-5 mins.
- Now it is time to add your liquids to your sauce pan. To the pan add your chicken stock, water and tamari and allow that to come to a slow boil.
- Add in your torn nori sheets, bring to a simmer, and cover. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.
- Carefully taste your broth after simmering to ensure you like the flavor. We usually add in a bit more tamari at this point but that is up to your taste buds.
- Once the flavor is to your liking carefully strain out the solid ingredients making sure to capture your liquids so you can pour them back into your pot.
- Take the liquid that you just strained and add it back into your pot and bring it back to a simmer. Stir in your shitake mushrooms, and allow them to simmer in the covered pan for 20 minutes.
- While your mushrooms are simmering in your broth bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil and add in your ramen noodles. Cook these to package directions and strain.
- Remove your mushrooms from your broth. To a large bowl add your ramen noodles, mushrooms, and any other toppings you would like. Ladle your broth over these and add in your soy cured egg and drizzle with chili oil!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 Hour
