Creamy Vegan Peanut Ramen with Udon and Tempeh

If you’ve been around here for a while, you already know we loooove bringing different dishes and food traditions together and turning them into some kind of fusion – just like in this Udon Carbonara or our Brussels Sprout Hollandaise Pinsa. For this recipe, we’ve created a fusion of ramen – a traditional Japanese noodle soup – and a peanut curry. The result: creamy vegan peanut ramen with udon and tempeh on top. For us, this recipe is pure comfort food and feels like a warm hug, especially now that temperatures are dropping.

What are ramen and where do they come from?
Ramen are essentially a Japanese noodle soup built from five core components: a rich broth, a flavorful base (the so-called tare), elastic wheat noodles, and various toppings such as vegetables, mushrooms, or seaweed. This combination makes ramen much more complex than “just noodles in broth”, because each component is prepared separately and only brought together in the bowl at the end. As the fifth element, ramen are finished with an aromatic oil, often chili oil or garlic oil, which adds even more depth to the dish.

Fun fact: In Japanese food culture, loudly slurping hot noodles is not only accepted but encouraged, because it helps cool the noodles down and releases additional aromas.

So what’s the difference between ramen and curry?
Curry is an umbrella term for dishes from South and Southeast Asian cuisines in which vegetables, legumes, or other ingredients are simmered in a thick, intensely seasoned sauce. Typical elements are aromatic spice blends or curry pastes, a creamy base (for example with coconut milk), and a texture that’s more like a stew than a thin soup. In a peanut curry, the combination of peanut butter, coconut milk, and curry paste creates an especially creamy, nutty sauce.

Our fusion of ramen and curry
In this recipe, we combine the structure of a classic ramen bowl with the creaminess of a peanut curry by filling the typical ramen building blocks with a different kind of “broth logic”. Instead of a clear, slowly simmered broth, we cook a thick peanut–coconut sauce from garlic, ginger, peanut butter, soy sauce, and coconut milk, which works as our seasoning base, tare, and broth all at once. On top of that, we add udon noodles, fresh toppings, and a drizzle of aromatic chili oil – so you still get the five classic elements of a ramen bowl.

And today’s protein is… tempeh!
For this recipe, we’re using smoked tempeh from tempehmanufaktur. Tempeh is traditionally made from whole legumes – in this case organic soybeans – which are cooked and then fermented with a selected noble mould, creating a firm, juicy texture and a complex, slightly nutty flavor. Thanks to the fermentation, the tempeh brings its own depth of flavor, which works beautifully with the ramen.In our recipe, we marinate the smoked tempeh with soy sauce, sesame oil, smoked paprika powder, and garlic powder, then fry the cubes over high heat until they’re crispy on the outside and still juicy on the inside – so, so good.

Not done with ramen yet?
If you’re now craving even more cozy ramen, you can try a few different versions from our blog, like our classic Miso Ramen or Vegan Tantan Ramen. They’ll definitely keep you nice and warm.