Cold Ramen Noodle Salad
A Make Ahead Culinary Wonder
This Cold Ramen Noodle Salad is the perfect warm weather dish. Make the base of this dish with dashi broth and marinated green onions.
Cold ramen noodles, carrot ribbons, cucumber slices, jalapeño, thinly sliced red peppers, and a garlic ginger soy sauce mix together magically. Additionally, you can add your favorite protein if you like.
It’s perfect for meal prep lunches for the week. You can also use a vegetarian dashi thatés different from the one I use to make this vegetarian.
Never heard of dashi before? There is a paragraph below that answers all the questions you probably have regarding this ingredient.
Need Help Finding and Saving The Recipe?
There is a full, printable recipe card at the end of this post. You can also hit the print button for the recipe to come up on one screen and from there you can screenshot this to save it to your phone.
I also have added a Pinterest button that you can use to save this recipe to your Pinterest page. If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, you can find me there as The Tipsy Housewife.
This Is Dashi
Dashi is a family of stocks used in Japanese cuisine. Dashi forms the base for miso soup, clear broth soup, noodle broth soup, and many simmering liquids to accentuate the savory flavor known as umami, which is a salty flavor profile like soy sauce.
Classic dashi is made using kelp and katsuobushi. A range of stocks of different character can be created from just these two ingredients.
Bonito flakes, also known as katsuobushi, are thin, tissue-paper-like shavings of dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna.
This dashi base can be found in many Asian markets. My friend Josh HIGHLY recommended a brand he uses from Amazon.
You can find the Dashi Base On Amazon by clicking the preceding link.
*That link is my AMAZON AFFILIATE link which means Amazon pays me a small commission if you use it. This does not cost you extra.*
It is typically less than twelve dollars and a little goes a long way. The first time you use it, taste and add slowly so that you have the perfect balance of salt.
What Else To Use Dashi For
You can add this ingredient to soup broths to add another layer of flavor. It is also delicious used in stir fry sauces.
Is Dashi Fishy?
I have been asked if this dashi is fishy. No, it is not overly fishy to me and I am someone who does not enjoy an overly fishy flavor of anything.
I enjoy this base very much.
What Is A Substitute For Dashi?
I really recommend using dashi for a new and interesting flavor profile. If you do not want to buy another ingredients, you can sub fish sauce or soy sauce if you like.
The Veggies
You can easily swap the vegetables I used in my recipe for any vegetables you like. Choose vegetables that have some crunch but can also absorb the delicious sauce.
Also consider making the vegetables different shapes and textures by slicing or peeling each of them differently.
The Noodles
I use the very affordable ramen noodle packets to make this recipe.
Save the seasoning packets for other things. Try sprinkling them on popcorn!
Use these same ramen packets to make this other Ramen Noodle Salad. I also use this same ramen to make the infamous Tik Tok Ramen.
Make Ahead
You can make all the components of this recipe and keep them separate in the fridge for a quick and easy lunch or dinner. This is a great meal to put in some tupperware and shake up when ready to eat.
Add Proteins
If you want you can add already cooked chicken, pork, or beef to this recipe. You can also marinate some tofu and add that as well.
Any protein would be delightful though this is pretty outstanding with just the vegetables too!
Ginger Paste
Buy the ginger paste for an even easier way to make this recipe. There are many brands out there.
You can usually find a ginger paste in the cold section of the produce department.
Cold Ramen Noodle Salad
This cold ramen salad is the perfect warm weather salad. The base is made with dashi broth and marinated green onions. Cold ramen noodles, carrot ribbons, cucumber slices, jalapeño, thinly sliced red peppers and a garlic ginger soy sauce. This salad is vegetarian but you can add your favorite protein if you like. Perfect for meal prep lunches for the week.
Ingredients
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 3 to 4 small Persian cucumbers
- 1 large carrot
- 6 Green onions
- 4 packages of affordable ramen noodles (pictured in post)
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of ginger paste
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of Dashi Stock (pictured in post) *adjust to preferences
- 2 cups of water *adjust to preferences
- Jalapeño Peppers (to preference)
- *see post before the recipe card for more clarifying information and links to specific products
Instructions
- Wash and dry your vegeatbles.
- Add ONLY the noodles from the packages of ramen to 6 to 8 cups of boiling water. Save the seasoning packets for something else. Noodles should boil until al dente. Approximately 3 to 5 minutes. When cooked, drain and rinse really well with cold water and set aside to drain in a colander.
- Finely mince your garlic and add that and your ginger paste to a bowl, then add your soy sauce. Give this a good stir and let this sit to combine flavors. You can make this a couple hours before for optimal flavor.
- Cut your bell pepper into very thin strips.
- Peel your carrot and discard the skins, then use the vegetable peeler to peel long ribbons of carrot.
- Peel your cucumbers and slice into very thin slices.
- Cut the green onions very thinly into slices. Add the white parts to a larger bowl and keep the green parts separate.
- Add the Dashi to the bowl with the white parts of the green onions. The Dashi is very salty so you can use less or more, You will be diluting it with water later so keep this in mind. Make this ahead of time and let this sit for optimal flavor. It can be used right away but it tastes better as it sits. 2 hours of marinating time is ideal. At the two hour mark add the 2 cups of water. Taste, if it is too salty for you add more water, if it is not salty enough, add more Dashi.
- Slice your jalapeños and remove the seeds carefully, slice into thin slices.
- When ready to serve you can build individual bowls by adding the cold ramen noodles, top with the veggies you want. Use as many as you want. Ladle the dashi broth over the whole bowl with the white parts of the green onions. You can use as much or as little as you like. I use about 1/4 cup for 2 cups of noodles. The Dashi should be more like a dressing then a broth the noodles are floating in.
- Top with a teaspoon or so of the garlic soy ginger sauce. Give the whole bowl a toss. If using a bowl with a lid, you can shake this up. Top with lots of the thinly sliced green onions.
**Further clarification is offered in the post before the recipe card.
Looking for another great dish with Asian flavors? Try my Spicy Chicken.