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Home ► Recipes ► Ramen

Tantanmen (Soupless)

Updated: 06.03.25 | Marc Matsumoto | 13 Comments

5 from 4 votes
Tsuyunashi Tantanmen (汁なし担々麺) is a quick and delicious spicy ramen dish. In my version, I toss my noodles in a spicy, nutty sesame sauce and top them with ground pork stir-fried with caramelized scallions, ginger, and garlic. It comes together in about 15 minutes and makes for a satisfying meal when the craving for ramen strikes.
Recipe Video
With ramen noodles tossed in creamy sesame sauce and topped with spicy stir-fried ground meat, this easy soupless Tantanmen Ramen comes together in only 15 minutes.

Tantanmen (汁なし坦々麺 - Soupless Tantanmen)

Tantanmen is a spicy variant of ramen that's based on Chinese Dandan Mian. It's traditionally made by infusing ramen broth with a spicy blend of chili oil and sesame paste. These days, a soupless variant called Tsuyunashi Tantanmen (literally "Tantanmen without soup") has gained popularity, especially during the warmer months of the year. It bears similarities to Mazesoba or Mazemen, which is also a soupless ramen dish that evolved in Taiwan and has recently gained popularity in Japan.

Unlike most ramen noodle soups which can take hours or even days to prepare, this spicy ramen dish can be put together in about fifteen minutes. 

Jump to:
  • Tantanmen (汁なし坦々麺 - Soupless Tantanmen)
  • Why This Recipe Works
  • Ingredients for Tsuyunashi Tantanmen
  • How to Make Tsuyunashi Tantanmen
  • Other Soupless Ramen Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe
  • FAQ
  • Comments

Why This Recipe Works

  • Because there is no soup, the flavors of the caramelized aromatics and spices are not diluted. 
  • Grinding the katsuobushi into a powder provides boatloads of umami and the wonderful smoky flavor of dashi without having to make the stock. 
  • Making an aromatic-infused chili oil and using it to stir-fry the pork creates a ridiculous amount of umami while saving time. 
  • The creamy, nutty sesame sauce is a nice contrast to the spicy umami-packed ground pork topping. 

Ingredients for Tsuyunashi Tantanmen

Tantanmen Meat

  • Ground pork - The traditional meat to use here is pork, but this works with ground chicken or beef. If you wanted to make this pescatarian, you could also substitute a flavorful minced mushroom, like shiitake or maitake. 
  • Seasonings - I like to season the meat in advance. This avoids the mad rush of trying to get a bunch of ingredients into the pan while you're sauteeing the meat. I use a mix of soy sauce, mirin, and Sichuan pepper to season the pork, which gives it a wonderful savory-sweet taste and a citrusy zing from the pepper. 
  • Aromatics - Chinese Dandan Mian often includes an aromatic oil as one of the components. It's a great idea, but to keep the preparation of this dish as simple as possible, I've opted to infuse the oil with scallions, ginger, and garlic before stir-frying the pork in the same pan. 
  • Doubanjiang - Also known as Tobanjan in Japan, this is a spicy Chinese chili bean paste. If you can't find it, most Asian-style chili paste will work. If you're planning on substituting gochujang, I recommend using sake instead of mirin to marinate the pork since gochujang tends to be quite sweet. 
Tantanmen is the Japanese version of Dandanmian. With ramen noodles tossed in a spicy, nutty sesame sauce topped with an umami-packed ground pork stir-fry.

Tantanmen 

  • Sesame - There are three forms of sesame in my Tantanmen sauce, and they each bring something different to the party. Nerigoma (Japanese sesame paste) is made with unhulled toasted sesame seeds, which gives it a more complex flavor than tahini, which is made from hulled sesame seeds. That being said, either one will work, and they give the sauce a rich, creamy texture. I also like to add some freshly ground sesame seeds. This adds a little more texture to the sauce as it's not fully ground into a paste while giving the sauce a more freshly roasted sesame fragrance. The final form of sesame is toasted sesame oil. It's made by pressing toasted whole sesame seeds and has a robust roasted sesame flavor. 
  • Soy sauce - The majority of the seasoning comes from the stir-fried pork on top, but it's still a good idea to have some seasoning in the sauce, which the soy sauce provides.  
  • Sugar - Whether it's Japanese curry or chicken teriyaki, Japanese cuisine is often a balancing act between salty, umami, and sweet tastes, and the sugar, helps provide the balance in this sauce. 
  • Oil - Oil provides lubrication for the noodles, but rather than include plain vegetable oil; I've used the opportunity to use flavored oils. The first one is rayu, which is a Japanese-style chili oil that tends to be pretty mild. You can use any chili oil you have on hand, but you may need to adjust the amount depending on how spicy yours is. The second oil is sesame oil, which I've explained a little more about in the "Sesame" section above. 
  • Katsuobushi - This is my secret ingredient for my Tantanmen sauce. Katsuobushi usually comes shaved into thin flakes and is made from cooked, smoked, dried, and fermented skipjack tuna. It is rich in inosinic acid, which synergizes with glutamic acid in other foods to boost the taste of umami. That's why it's often paired with kombu (kelp) to make Japanese dashi stock. Because the sauce for this spicy ramen doesn't need to be clear, I've found it's faster and more potent just to powderize the katsuobushi and include it directly into the sauce. Unfortunately, there is no 1:1 plant-based substitution for katsuobushi that will get you the umami and flavor, so if you want to make this plant-based, you're going to need to get a little creative. One idea that I've had is to cold-smoke konbu and then grind that up into a powder. 
  • Noodles - I like using thick-cut ramen noodles (such as those for tsukemen) for my Tsuyunashi Tantanmen, but any Asian-style wheat noodles will work for this dish. 
These easy spicy sesame ramen noodles are topped with an umami-bomb ground meat stir-fry.

How to Make Tsuyunashi Tantanmen

The first thing you want to do is marinate the ground pork with soy sauce, mirin, and Sichuan pepper. You don't want to mash the ground meat into a paste as you mix the seasonings in, so I recommend mixing it using a pair of chopsticks. 

For the sauce, you want to grind the katsuobushi and toasted sesame seeds into a powder. I do this using a mortar and pestle, but a clean spice grinder, blender, or food processor will work as well. This gets mixed with the sesame paste, soy sauce, sugar, rayu, and sesame oil to make a smooth paste, and then boiling water is added to make a creamy sauce. 

The only tricky part about this recipe is to time boiling the noodles when the pork is done. My noodles took 3 minutes to cook, so I added them to the boiling water about halfway through making the pork. 

For the pork, you want to make an aromatic oil first by sauteing about 80% of the scallions in vegetable oil and then adding in the grated ginger and garlic. Once the mixture has browned, add the doubanjiang and stir-fry for about twenty seconds to infuse the oil with heat. 

Finally, the marinated pork goes into the pan, and you can use a chopping motion with the side of a spatula to break it up into small crumbs. 

When the noodles are cooked, drain them well, but do not rinse them. Transfer the ramen to a bowl and toss them together with the Tantanmen sauce (tongs work best for this). 

Plate up the spicy ramen and when the pork is cooked through, top the noodles with the savory pork. 

I like to finish my Tsuyunashi Tantanmen with fried onions and some cayenne pepper which lends a nice texture and an extra fiery kick to the dish. 

Other Soupless Ramen Recipes

  • Ramen Carbonara
  • Ramen Salad (Hiyashi Chuka)
  • Hiyashi Tantan Udon (Chilled Sesame Nooodles)

📖 Recipe

These easy spicy sesame ramen noodles are topped with an umami-bomb ground meat stir-fry.

Tsuyunashi Tantanmen

By: Marc Matsumoto
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 8 minutes mins
Total Time 13 minutes mins
Yield 2 servings
YouTube video

Units

Ingredients 

Tantanmen Pork

  • 150 grams ground pork
  • 2 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • ¼ teaspoon ground Sichuan pepper optional
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 30 grams scallions 3 large scallions, minced
  • 9 grams ginger grated
  • 9 grams garlic grated
  • 1 tablespoon Doubanjiang

Tantanmen Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon Japanese sesame paste tahini will also work
  • 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons evaporated cane sugar
  • 2 teaspoons rayu
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
  • 2 grams katsuobushi
  • ¼ cup boiling water

For serving

  • 260 grams ramen noodles
  • Fried onions optional

Instructions

  • Marinate the pork with soy sauce, mirin, and ground Sichuan pepper. Let this rest while you prepare the other ingredients.
    Marinating ground pork for Tantanmen.
  • To make the Tantanmen sauce, grind the katsuobushi and toasted sesame seeds into a powder using a mortar and pestle or clean spice grinder.
    Making umami powder from katsuobushi and toasted sesame seeds.
  • Add this mixture to a bowl along with the sesame paste, soy sauce, sugar, rayu, and sesame oil, and whisk it until it's smooth and free of lumps. Whisk in the boiling water until you have a uniform sauce.
    Tantanmen Sauce being mixed in a glass bowl.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the ramen noodles. You'll want to time adding the noodles to the water, so they're finished around the same time your pork stir-fry is done.
    Boiling ramen noodles for Tantanmen.
  • To make the pork topping for the Tantanmen, heat the vegetable oil over medium-low heat and add most scallions (save some for garnish). Saute these until they're wilted and starting to brown around the edges.
    Making scallion oil for Tantanmen.
  • Add the grated ginger and garlic and saute the mixture until the aromatics are browned but not black.
    Caramelized scallions, ginger and garlic.
  • Add the doubanjiang and stir it into the oil until the oil is a vibrant orange color and the mixture is fragrant (about 20 seconds).
    Spicy caramelized aromatics.
  • Add the marinated pork to the pan and use a spatula to break up the meat into small crumbs. It's ready when the pork is cooked through and crumbly.
    Spicy stir-fried ground pork in a frying pan.
  • When the ramen is cooked, drain it well and then transfer it to a bowl. Stir the Tantanmen sauce and drizzle it over the noodles. Toss the noodles in the sauce to coat and then plate the ramen up.
    Tossing ramen noodles in spicy sesame sauce.
  • Divide the pork topping between the plates and then garnish with the reserved scallions. I also like to top my Tantanmen with fried onions and some cayenne pepper.
    Spicy Tantanmen Ramen topped with ground pork, scallions and chili powder.
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Nutrition Facts

Calories • 1090kcalCarbohydrates • 99gProtein • 32gFat • 64gSaturated Fat • 29gCholesterol • 55mgSodium • 3856mgPotassium • 662mgFiber • 5gSugar • 10gVitamin A • 193IUVitamin C • 7mgCalcium • 125mgIron • 8mg

FAQ

What is Tsuyunashi Tantanmen?

Tsuyunashi Tantanmen (汁なし担々麺) is a variation of Tantanmen, which is the Japanese version of Dandan Mian. Although Tantanmen is usually served like ramen in soup, tsuyunashi (汁なし) literally means "without soup," so this falls in the same category as other soupless ramen dishes such as aburasoba(油そば), mazésoba(混ぜそば), and mazémen(混ぜ麺). It's most commonly served with a spicy sesame-based taré, or sauce, and it's topped with a savory stir-fry of ground pork.

How do you pronounce Tsuyunashi Tantanmen?

Tsuyunashi is 4-syllables and Tantanmen is 3-syllables pronounced as follows:
tsu like eat soup
yu like you
na like knob
shi like sheet
tan like tonic
tan like tonic
men like mend

Who invented Tsuyunashi Tantanmen?

It's not clear who exactly created the soupless variety of Tantanmen, but it's based on a noodle soup that's generally credited to Chen Kenmin of Shisen Hanten. Chef Chen is known for adapting dishes from his native Sichuan province in China to suit the Japanese palate, and this spicy ramen is based on Dandan Mian (担担面). Since ramen was already a popular dish in Japan, the Chef used some of the flavors from Dandan Mian, such as sesame and chili oil but packaged them in the familiar format of ramen for his Japanese customers. These days, this soupless variety of the dish has become quite popular, which brings it closer to the Chinese original, but it still retains a unique Japanese taste signature. 

Is Tsuyunashi Tantanmen vegan?

No, most versions of this dish are going to contain meat. This particular recipe contains ground meat in the topping and powdered smoked fish in the sauce. The ground meat is easily substituted with a flavorful mushroom. On the other hand, the fish powder will be a little harder to replace as it is included to provide both umami and a slightly smoky flavor to do the sauce. This may require a bit of experimentation to come up with an alternative, but if you find a good solution, I'd love to hear about it. 

What can I top my Tantanmen with?

This Tantanmen is pretty delicious as is, and I usually like to throw some fried onions on top for a bit of crunch and some extra cayenne pepper and ground Sichuan pepper for more punch. Other traditional toppings included boy Choy (which you can boil with the noodles), chopped peanuts, and ramen eggs.

Comments

    5 from 4 votes

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Alicia says

    May 03, 2024 at 10:50 am

    5 stars
    I am craving this right now. Have made it at least twice, the sauce coating the noodles is addictive. Planning to make it again this week!

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      May 03, 2024 at 11:04 pm

      Hi Alicia, glad to hear you've been enjoying this! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!

      Reply
  2. Janet says

    March 20, 2024 at 6:32 am

    5 stars
    Delicious! Tastes just like our local ramen shop - thanks for sharing! We used ground chicken. My kids loved it.

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      March 20, 2024 at 9:34 am

      Hi Janet, I'm so happy to hear your family enjoyed this! Great idea subbing ground chicken!

      Reply
  3. Surina says

    September 29, 2021 at 3:05 pm

    5 stars
    Super

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      September 30, 2021 at 10:39 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Christie says

    September 16, 2021 at 12:18 am

    5 stars
    Made this for my family last night. It was delicious! Everyone loved it and said to keep this in our dinner rotations.  

    I didn't use all the spices because my 7 year old daughter can't handle too spicy. I doubled the recipe and added slightly less Doubanjiang. I also mixed in fresh shitake mushrooms with the pork.  

    This was the first time making a recipe from this website...I've been watching Marc Matsumoto on NHK's show Bento Expo so I had a feeling that this would be delicious, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      September 16, 2021 at 12:22 am

      Thanks Christie! I'm so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this😀

      Reply
  5. Liralen Li says

    April 21, 2021 at 2:42 am

    Rayu is Chili oil

    Reply
  6. Penny Nitz-Westerman says

    April 20, 2021 at 3:01 am

    @Eileen, I was wondering the same thing. Also, what is rayu?

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      April 20, 2021 at 9:21 am

      Hi Penny, substituting gochujang is explained in the Ingredients section of the headnotes. Rayu is Japanese-style chili oil. It tends to be a little less spicy than other types of chili oil, but you can substitute this with any other chili oil adjusting for heat level to taste.

      Reply
  7. Eileen says

    April 19, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    Is gochujang a possible substitute for the
    Doubanjiang?

    Reply
    • Marc Matsumoto says

      April 20, 2021 at 9:19 am

      Hi Eileen, there's an explanation in the Ingredients section of the headnotes, but yes, gochujang will work if you reduce the amount of mirin.

      Reply
Marc Matsumoto

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