Hakata Motsunabe

Ingredients

• 500 g cleaned beef intestine (marucho), cut into 4 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp plain flour, for cleaning
• 1.2 litres chicken stock
• 10 g kombu
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 dried red chillies, sliced into rings
• 500 g white cabbage, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 200 g nira (garlic chives), cut into 6 cm lengths
• 100 g beansprouts
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 portions (300 g) champon or thick ramen noodles, for the finish

Before you cook

• Soak the kombu in the chicken stock in a wide casserole for 30 minutes.
• Rub the offal with the salt and flour, then rinse it under cold running water until the water runs clear.
• Slice the garlic, ring the chillies and cut the cabbage and nira as listed.

Steps

1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the offal for 5 minutes.
2. Drain the offal and rinse it again under hot water to wash off the scum.
3. Set the casserole of stock over a medium heat and lift out the kombu just before it boils.
4. Season the broth with the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar.
5. Add the blanched offal and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes, until it is tender enough to bite through easily.
6. Skim the fat and foam from the surface a couple of times as it cooks.
7. Taste the broth and add a splash more soy sauce if it seems flat.
8. Pile the cabbage into the pot and scatter the sliced garlic and chilli over it.
9. Cover and cook for 6 minutes, until the cabbage has slumped but the stems still have bite.
10. Heap the nira and beansprouts on top and put the lid back on for 90 seconds.
11. Shower the whole pot with sesame seeds and take it to the table.
12. When the offal and vegetables have been eaten, drop the noodles into the remaining broth and cook them for 4 minutes to finish the meal.