Shoyu ramen

• 4 u Egg
  Swaps (2)
• 200 ml Soy sauce (Japanese)
  Swaps (1)
• 6 cloves Garlic (crushed)
• 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds (toasted)
• 2 tablespoons Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
• 1 piece Ginger (about 6 cm, sliced)
• 6 u Spring Onions (green and white parts separated)
• 700 g Pork Shoulder (boneless, in one piece)
• 1 tablespoon Sesame Seed Oil (toasted) (optional)
• 500 g Noodles (fresh ramen noodles (or 360 g dried))
  Swaps (1)
• 100 ml Sake (cooking sake)
• 1.5 kg Chicken Wings (or a mix of carcasses and wings)
• 100 ml Mirin
• 3.5 l Water (for the broth, the pork and the marinade)
• 500 ml Dashi stock (homemade or instant)

Instructions

1. 1

   Rinse the chicken wings, put them in a large pot with 3 litres of cold water and bring to the boil. Skim off all the grey scum that rises to the surface with a slotted spoon.

   15 min

2. 2

   Add half the ginger, 3 garlic cloves and the green parts of the spring onions. Turn the heat right down so the broth barely trembles and leave it uncovered until it has reduced by half, skimming now and then.

   3 hr

3. 3

   Meanwhile, roll up the pork shoulder and tie it with kitchen string into a neat cylinder. Brown it in a small casserole with the oil, turning, until it is well coloured all over.

   10 min

4. 4

   Add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, 300 ml of water and the rest of the ginger and garlic. Cover and simmer gently, turning the pork every half hour, until a knife slides in with no resistance.

   2 hr

5. 5

   Lower the eggs, straight from the fridge, into boiling water, cook for 6½ minutes and transfer to a bowl of iced water. Peel them carefully once cold.

   10 min

6. 6

   Lift out the pork and strain the cooking liquid. Mix half of it with an equal amount of water and submerge the eggs in it, in a small container or a zip-lock bag. The other half is your tare: keep it in a jar. Wrap the pork in cling film and refrigerate everything overnight.

7. 7

   Strain the broth, cool it quickly (for example, by standing the pot in a sink of cold water) and refrigerate overnight. The next day, lift off the layer of fat that has set on top and keep a couple of tablespoons of it.

   10 min

8. 8

   On the day, heat the broth with the dashi without letting it boil. Cut the cold pork into thin slices and, if you like, sear them for a minute in a very hot frying pan. Halve the eggs and thinly slice the white parts of the spring onions.

   10 min

9. 9

   Warm the bowls with hot water and dry them. Put 2 or 3 tablespoons of tare and a teaspoon of the reserved chicken fat or sesame oil in each one. Cook the noodles for the time given on the packet and drain them very well.

   4 min

10. 10

    Pour about 350 ml of piping hot broth into each bowl, stir and taste, adding more tare if it needs more salt. Add the noodles, straighten them with chopsticks and top with the pork, egg, spring onion and sesame seeds. Serve straight away.

    3 min