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What Is Soup-less Ramen "Abura Soba"?
Simplified version of Ramen
So the normal ramen you see in restaurants is usually noodles, meat and a few vegetables in a broth right? (Although soup-less style is becoming more and more popular) The broth usually defines the kind of ramen it is; Shoyu, salt, tonkotsu, and miso.
However Abura Soba has no broth at all! Just a sauce. The best description for the dish is literally soup-less ramen.
There are different names for the dish in various parts of Japan and restaurants.
- Monja soba (もんじゃそば)
- Maze soba (まぜそば)
- Tenuki soba (手抜きそば)
- Abu ramen (あぶらーめん)
It started being popular in 90's among university students because it's cheaper and more filling.
Soba but not soba
Although the name "Abura Soba" has soba in it, it does not mean soba noodles are used for this dish.
In Japan, ramen used to be called "Chinese soba (Chuuka Soba 中華そば)" so that's the reason why in some areas and restaurants, ramen has "soba" in their name. The same rule goes for yakisoba too.
Egg noodles are the type to be used for ramen in general.
Why Is This a "Cheat" Recipe?
No need to buy Ramen egg noodles
Okay, one of the biggest problems I faced while I lived in England was "How do I get egg noodles for ramen?"
I did try to make the ramen noodles from scratch but it took a lot of time and left a big mess in the kitchen.
I almost gave up on making ramen in my kitchen (Sad and devastating time for a Japanese man)
But I found a cheat way to make ramen egg noodles from spaghetti! Of course it's not technically the same but it's surprisingly close in taste and texture.
Spaghetti and baking soda!?
Later, I got to know that this trick is very popular among Japanese people who live abroad who also cannot get premade Ramen noodles, so it's not only me who thinks the trick is good enough!
The trick is, cook normal spaghetti in water, salt and baking soda mix!
That's it! You can see the full instructions and measurements to make your own ramen noodles from spaghetti and baking soda here.
I know it doesn't sound promising but trust me and the other folks on that one.
Check out our video for How to Make Soup-less Ramen "Abura Soba" At Home!
Print
Ultimate Soup-less Ramen "Abura Soba" With Noodle Trick (油そば)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 Bowls 1x
Description
How to make The Ultimate Soup-less Ramen "Abura Soba" With Awesome Noodle Hack (油そば)
Ingredients
For the Noodles
- 160g 1.8㎜ Spaghetti
- 2000ml Water
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Baking soda
Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 and ½ tablespoon Rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon Chilli oil
- 1 pinch Chicken stock powder (Optional)
- ½ teaspoon Sugar
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Chopped spring onion
- 3 tablespoon Ground white sesame
- 6 pieces of Chashu (See how to make your own Japanese style chashu here)
- 2 Boiled eggs
- 6 Bamboo shoots (Optional, can be the tinned type)
- 6 Nori seaweed sheets
Instructions
First, get your noodles cooking
- Pour 2000ml of cold water into a large pot with ½ teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil.
- Once it's boiling, add 1 tablespoon baking soda.
- Add the spaghetti and boil for 2 minutes more than it says on the packaging.
Prepare your sauce
- While you're waiting for your spaghetti to cook, mix 2 tablespoon oyster sauce, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 and ½ tablespoon rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, ½ teaspoon chilli oil, pinch of chicken stock powder (optional) and ½ a teaspoon of sugar together to make the sauce.
- Pour the sauce into two large bowls ready for the ramen later. (The sauce sits at the bottom of the bowl and then you mix everything together before eating.)
Prepping and Assembling the Abura Soba
- Mix 3 tablespoon chopped spring onion and 3 tablespoon of ground white sesame together in a bowl.
- Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain the water out and lay it on top of the sauce in the two serving bowls.
- Arrange the the chashu, boiled eggs, bamboo shoots and nori around the edges of the bowl (or however you like, you can be creative! You can see how to make chashu and ajitama soaked eggs here!)
- Sprinkle the spring onion/sesame seed mix into the middle of the bowl.
- Serve up and enjoy! (Make sure to mix well before eating!)
Notes
If you can't get bamboo, grilled mushrooms, boiled spinach or beansprouts are also very good on this dish!
- Category: Noodles
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Japanese
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Thank you so much for this awesome recipe! I made it two nights in a row, and I'll definitely make it more in the future. I live in an area without many choices when it comes to Japanese ingredients, especially ramen noodles, so the spaghetti + baking soda trick is a godsend. I was surprised by how well it works.
Your website is great, looking forward to trying your other recipes!
★★★★★
Hi Robyn! Thank you so much for your kind comment and rating.
I'm happy you enjoyed the recipe!
I also used this spaghetti technique when I was living in England, I'm glad you found it useful too!