There is a vegan restaurant at Tokyo main station called T’s Tantan. They have this amazing Japanese tantan soup that makes me get on a train through half the city, walk forever through the giant station and even buy a ticket for a train I don’t take, to get to the area where the restaurant is.
And every time again I come to the conclusion that this soup is worth the effort.
They were so nice to draw the ingredients on the wall, so I managed to create a tantan soup recipe at home very similar to the one at T’s Tantan.
Update April 2020: meanwhile the way I make my soup has changed a little. I cut the bok choy in halves and roast it in the skillet at the end with the soy meat for a minute or two, then drizzle it with chili oil. That is so delicious!
Would you like to watch the YouTube video first?
Recipe for the Japanese Tantan Soup
Serves 2, about 40 minutes
Ingredients for the soup
2 cups vegetable stock (480 ml)
1/2 cup oat- or soy milk (120 ml)
1 tablespoon miso shiro*
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup ground sesame seeds or tahini* (55 g)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin*
1/4 cup peanut butter (55 g)
1 teaspoon paprika powder
a pinch of chili
for the soy protein
plant oil
white part of scallion
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/3 cup textured soy protein (15 g)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ketchup
and
7 oz ramen noodles (200 g)
green part of scallion
2 baby bok choi
chili strings*
sesame seeds and chili oil*
How to make the Japanese Tantan Soup
Heat water for the soy protein.
Chop the scallion, separate white part and green part.
Put the soy protein in boiling water and simmer for a few minutes.
In the meantime you can either grind sesame seeds into a fine paste in a mortar*
or just use tahini instead:
Drain soy protein.
Heat water for the noodles.
In the meantime sauté ginger, white scallion and garlic in a skillet, then add the soy protein, ketchup and soy sauce, cook at moderate heat until brown.
Cook noodles according to instructions and set aside.
Combine veggie broth, water, sesame paste, peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, paprika powder and mirin in a small pot, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add chili, soy- or oat milk and miso.
Arrange the noodles and the bok choi leaves in two bowls and pour the soup in. Put the soy protein on top in the middle. Garnish with green scallions, chili strings and sesame seeds.
Tantan men, as this soup is called in Japanese, was inspired by the Chinese dish dandan noodles which I once tried in a Szechuan restaurant in Hamburg and was almost unable to finish it because it was so spicy!
The Japanese version is not that spicy, but feel free to add as much chili and chili oil as you like 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable broth (480 ml)
- scallion
- 1/2 cup oat- or soy milk (120 ml)
- 1 tablespoon miso
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds, roasted and ground or tahini (55 g)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (55 g)
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder
- a pinch of chili
- 7 oz ramen noodles (200 g)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1/3 cup textured soy protein (15 g)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ketchup
- 2 bok choi (outer leaves removed)
- chili strings
- sesame seeds
- chili oil to drizzle
Instructions
- Heat water for the soy protein.
- Chop the scallion, separate white part and green part.
- Put the soy protein in boiling water and simmer for a few minutes.
- In the meantime grind sesame seeds into a fine paste in a mortar (optional).
- Drain soy protein.
- Heat water for the noodles.
- In the meantime sauté ginger, white scallion and garlic in a skillet, then add the soy protein, ketchup and soy sauce, cook at moderate heat until brown.
- Cook noodles according to instructions and set aside.
- Combine veggie broth, water, sesame paste, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, paprika powder and mirin, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add chili, soy- or oat milk and miso.
- Arrange the noodles and the bok choi leaves in two bowls and pour the soup in. Put the soy protein on top in the middle. Garnish with green scallions, chili strings, chili oil and sesame seeds.
Have you made this recipe? I would love to see your picture on Instagram @flymetotheveganbuffet or #flymetotheveganbuffet.
You love Japan or are planning to go there? You can check out my blogpost WHERE I ATE AS A VEGAN IN TOKYO and have a look at my Pinterest Board VEGAN IN TOKYO/ JAPAN
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6 Comments
Alex
18. August 2018 at 20:21Amazing! I’ve been trying to recreate this soup since visiting Japan and this recipe is perfect! Thank you.
Nina
18. August 2018 at 23:40Oh, so happy to hear that! Thanks 🙂
Jem M
29. March 2019 at 06:18Omg!! I came back from Japan last month and today I was cravinnggggg T’s Golden Tan Tan and I was searching everywhere to try find one that sounded similar and then I came across your blog and you have the exact one I’m looking for ! 😍😍 Bless you I’m so stoked, trying it out today!!
Nina
19. April 2019 at 13:10Hi Jem, thank you so much! Hope you’ll enjoy it 🙂
PeterAndLisa
3. September 2020 at 20:31So similar to ts tan tan in Tokyo station – great job and thanks so much for tweaking as you go we’ve been following along. Roasting/grilling the pak choi is a great idea, worked well.
Nina
4. September 2020 at 12:58Thank you so much! Glad you like the pak choi as much as I do 🙂