Homemade Ramen

A bowl built on fat and protein

Calculated from the raw ingredient quantities above, divided across four servings:

Ramen’s reputation for richness is earned honestly: at 740 kcal and 43 g of protein per serving, this is one of the more substantial single-bowl meals on the atlas, and pork shoulder is doing most of the work — both the fat (35 g, of which 12 g saturated) and a good share of the protein come from the braised pork rather than the broth or noodles. Noodles and the marinated egg round the bowl out to 61 g of carbohydrate, modest for a dish this filling.

The broth itself is harder to quantify honestly: a long-simmered stock built from bones renders fat and gelatin into the liquid in amounts that vary with cooking time and how much fat is skimmed, so the figures above cover the noodles, pork, egg and seasoning base rather than an exact reading of the broth’s own contribution.

History

Ramen is Japanese the way pizza is American: by passionate adoption. Wheat noodles in broth arrived from China in the late 19th century with immigrants settling in the ports of Yokohama and Kobe. People first called it shina soba, “Chinese noodles.” Postwar Japan, hungry and in a hurry, turned it into a signature dish: cheap, hot, and complete in one bowl.

Every region then staked its claim on a style. Sapporo champions miso, Tokyo leans on shoyu with soy sauce, and Hakata swears by a milky tonkotsu broth simmered for hours with pork bones. A homemade bowl of ramen won’t rival a counter in Fukuoka, but an honest broth, firm noodles, and a marinated egg are enough to understand why this bowl makes people so serious.

Ingredients — Serves 4

• 400 g fresh ramen noodles (or 4 good-quality dried portions)
• 1.5 L homemade chicken broth plus 20 g dried shiitake mushrooms
• 600 g pork shoulder or belly
• 4 eggs, 100 ml soy sauce, 50 ml mirin (for the marinated eggs)
• 2 tbsp miso or soy sauce (the seasoning base)
• Scallions, nori, sesame oil

Step-by-Step Homemade Ramen Recipe

1. The day before, marinate the eggs: cooked for exactly 6½ minutes, peeled, and left overnight in soy sauce, mirin, and water.
2. Roast the pork, rolled and tied, then braise it for 1½ hours in a bit of broth, soy sauce, and mirin. Slice thin.
3. Build the broth: chicken stock, shiitake mushrooms, and the braising liquid from the pork, simmered gently for 30 minutes.
4. Season each bowl before ladling in the broth: the tare (miso or soy) at the bottom is what defines the ramen’s style.
5. Cook the noodles separately, kept quite firm, then drained thoroughly.
6. Assemble quickly: noodles, scalding broth, pork, egg halved, scallions, nori. Eat right away, slurping loudly. It’s polite.

Cooking Method

Technique: a long-simmered broth, components cooked separately, assembled at the last minute.

Traditional equipment: a large stockpot and a noodle basket; a saucepan and a strainer get the job done.

What to look for: the broth should never hit a rolling boil, or it turns cloudy; noodles cooked al dente since they keep cooking in the hot bowl; egg yolk still creamy.

Economic context

Ramen’s own economics run opposite to the country’s high overall cost of living reflected in the figure above: the dish was built after the Second World War specifically as cheap, filling food for a hungry population, and instant ramen later became one of the least expensive hot meals sold anywhere in the world. A homemade bowl, simmered from bones and pork shoulder rather than a packet, costs more than that reputation suggests — but still far less than a fish-based meal built from the same country’s ingredients.

Source: World Bank / FAO, Food Prices for Nutrition database (Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet) v4.0, 2024 data, CC BY 4.0, DOI 10.57966/41AN-KY81. Retrieved 29 July 2026. This figure describes the cost of a healthy diet in Japan generally — it is not a costing of this specific recipe.

Who this dish suits

What About You?

Where do you think is the best place to try ramen — or your go-to spot to make it at home?

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