A Refreshing Bowl with an Easy Homemade Broth

If you’ve ever wanted to make cold ramen at home, you’ll be surprised by how simple it is. Instead of simmering a broth for hours, this cold ramen noodle recipe comes together by simply mixing a few basic Japanese seasonings and chilling them before serving.

The secret isn’t complexity—it’s balancing different sources of umami. When making ramen, combining two or more sources of umami creates a broth with greater depth and complexity. For this recipe, I use chicken stock powder together with shirodashi to build a light, flavorful broth that’s perfect for summer.

Customize Your Chilled Ramen

One ingredient that may be unfamiliar outside Japan is shirodashi. It’s a light-colored Japanese soup base made from dashi—typically bonito flakes, kombu, and sometimes shiitake mushrooms—seasoned with soy sauce, mirin, and other ingredients. It adds authentic Japanese flavor without darkening the broth, making it perfect for chilled ramen.

For toppings, you can keep it classic with naruto, ham, bamboo shoots, green onions, and a soft-boiled egg, or customize your bowl with shredded chicken, roast beef, mushrooms, bean sprouts, corn, cucumbers, or any of your favorite ramen toppings. It’s an easy Japanese cold noodle recipe that’s perfect for hot summer days.

Ingredients(2 servings)

Broth

Water: 1 2/3 cups

Chicken stock powder: 4 tsp

Shirodashi: 1 tbsp

Grated garlic: 1 tsp

Sesame oil: 2 tsp

Noodles & Toppings

Fresh chuka noodles: 2 servings

Naruto: 2 slices

Ham: 2 slices

Bamboo shoots: As much as you like

Soft-boiled egg: 1

Green onions, chopped: 2 tbsp

Instructions

In a bowl, combine the water, chicken stock powder, shirodashi, grated garlic, and sesame oil. Stir until the seasonings dissolve completely, then refrigerate until well chilled.
Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain well, rinse under cold running water, and chill in ice water. Drain thoroughly.
Divide the chilled noodles between two serving bowls. Pour the cold broth over the noodles and arrange the naruto, ham, bamboo shoots, soft-boiled egg, and green onions on top. Serve immediately.