Abura Soba (Soupless Ramen)

What's in it

16 parts read from its 20 ingredient lines and its title.

Tare and seasoning

• Soy sauce (shoyu) “4 tsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)”
• Vinegar “2 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar (komezu)”
• Tare made in the recipe a heading in the list

Aroma oil

• Chili oil (rayu) “chili oil (rayu) (to garnish)”
• Lard or back fat “1 tsp lard”
• Sesame oil “2 tsp toasted sesame oil”

Noodles

• Pasta used as ramen noodles “2 portions ramen noodles (fresh or spaghetti hack)”

Toppings

• Chashu “4 pieces pork chashu (or easy oven baked alternative)”
• Pork (other cuts) “4 pieces pork chashu (or easy oven baked alternative)”
• Marinated egg (ajitama) “2 ramen egg (or soft boiled egg)”
• Menma (bamboo shoots) “seasoned bamboo shoots (menma)”
• Nori “roasted seaweed for sushi (nori) (to garnish)”
• Scallion or negi “3 tbsp finely chopped green onions”
• Naruto or kamaboko fish cake “narutomaki fish cake (optional)”
• Sesame seeds “½ tbsp ground sesame seeds”

How it is served

• Served without soup named in the title

Against the usual Abura soba

It has 6 of the 7 parts of the usual Abura soba and mazesoba: soy sauce (shoyu), chashu, menma (bamboo shoots), scallion or negi, vinegar and chili oil (rayu). Not on it: raw egg or yolk.

Less usual for the style: tare made in the recipe (in 23% of Abura soba recipes), lard or back fat (in 15% of Abura soba recipes), marinated egg (ajitama) (in 7% of Abura soba recipes) and naruto or kamaboko fish cake (in 7% of Abura soba recipes).

Ramen without soup: noodles tossed in a soy-based tare and aroma oil, usually with chashu, menma and scallion, often a raw egg yolk, and vinegar and chili oil added at the table. Mazesoba is the same idea with more toppings mixed in.