Oat Milk Brodo

I’m gonna keep this one light and simple today (PUN INTENDED!) with an oat milk vegan broth recipe. I know you may think it sounds weird, but Japanese ramen shops have been making vegetarian/vegan broths with non-dairy options. They are so tasty! I normally don’t order the vegetarian/vegan option when I’m out eating, but it’s now my favorite thing to order when we go eat ramen/udon. At Kagawa-Ya Udon, their vegan option is always my go to. Their seasonal vegan dish is a soy milk paitan that is so rich and creamy. Just thinking about it makes me want some right now.

To be truthful, these alternative broths are only popular state side. It’s not traditional at all. Most people don’t think you can make a flavorful broth without meat. These alternative broths typically use soy milk to created a silky texture. I wanted to use oat milk instead. Oat milk is naturally thicker and I felt that it would be a richer, creamier broth. I wanted my broth to really shine as the center of the dish. That got me thinking to what I could make. Brodo is Italian for broth. One of my favorite Italian dishes is tortellini with brodo. It’s exactly what the name is: tortillini served with a bit of broth. The brodo is extremely flavorful and services as a great bite of umami. So there was the inspiration: Japanese, vegan inspired brodo over tortellini.

My recipe uses a lot of aromatics to flavor the broth. Garlic is absolutely key and I love the finishing flavor of the it after each bite. The garlic is extremely fragrant when browned but don’t burn it! There’s no point of return with burnt garlic. I also tried my best attempt at Michelin level plating on this one. Thoughts?