Pan roast your carrot, onion, celery, garlic and ginger by preheating your pan and oil to medium and letting the aromatics sit on one side for 7 to 10 minutes, or until they get some good caramelization on them. Flip/Redistribute and repeat. Alternatively, toss them all in the oil and roast in a preheated 425F oven for about 25 minutes. This is an optional step, but one that I like to do if I have the time because it brings out a sweeter, deeper and more developed flavor from the aromatics.
Put all the aromatics and the stock in a large pot, bring to a boil over medium high with lid on askew, let it boil for about a minute, then turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, for about an hour.
Add your soy sauce and/or miso, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and stir into the stock until thoroughly and evenly incorporated, or until all miso has dissolved if you're adding miso. If you're making this broth for kids who aren't familiar with miso, I suggest going all soy sauce. If you like your broth a little more salty, I suggest using more kosher salt rather than soy sauce or miso to up the salt flavor without overwhelming your broth with soy sauce or miso flavor.
If your aromatics aren't particularly sweet, and you need to round out the flavors or take a little edge off the saltiness or bitterness of the soy sauce or miso, add a little more sugar to taste.
Continue to simmer the broth on low with lid on askew for another 10 to 15 minutes, strain, and that's it!
And since this recipe is about easy ramen broth, I suggest using your instant ramen noodles or premade plain ramen noodles boiled al dente in lightly salted water for your noodles. Making good ramen noodles from scratch is by no means an easy task. Easy toppings include sliced storebought or homemade roast chicken, pork or beef, poached or boiled eggs, cold cuts, mushrooms, canned bamboo shoots, sliced green onions, veg odds and ends that you can slice up and lightly blanch in the broth as you'
Other appropriate nice-to-haves that will add richness, depth and complexity and take your broth to the next level are things like: daikon radish, parsnips, turnips; mushrooms (shiitakes are great, but you could also use buttons or criminis, which are accessible just about everywhere); green onions, leeks, shallots; konbu or dashima, both dried kelp products, for flavor and body; katsuobushi, hon dashi, a little dash of fish sauce; a little mirin for sweetness...
