Nagasaki Champon

Ingredients

• 300 g champon noodles, or thick fresh ramen noodles
• 150 g pork belly, thinly sliced and cut into strips
• 8 raw prawns, peeled
• 100 g squid rings
• 200 g white cabbage, cut into 4 cm pieces
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1/2 carrot, cut into thin batons
• 50 g dried kikurage (wood ear), soaked and torn
• 4 slices kamaboko or narutomaki fish cake
• 80 g beansprouts
• 1 tbsp lard, or neutral oil
• 600 ml pork or chicken stock
• 100 ml whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Before you cook

• Soak the dried kikurage in warm water for 15 minutes, then drain and tear it into pieces.
• Cut the pork, cabbage, onion and carrot as listed and keep them on one plate.
• Pat the prawns and squid dry on kitchen paper.

Steps

1. Set a wok or wide deep pan over a high heat and melt the lard.
2. Stir-fry the pork strips for 2 minutes, until the fat turns translucent and the edges colour.
3. Add the prawns and squid and toss them for 1 minute, just until the prawns turn pink.
4. Tip in the onion, carrot, cabbage and kikurage and stir-fry hard for 2 minutes.
5. Season the pan with the salt, soy sauce and white pepper and toss everything together.
6. Pour in the stock and bring it to a fierce boil.
7. Drop the noodles straight into the boiling broth and separate them with chopsticks.
8. Boil the noodles in the broth for 4 minutes, stirring once or twice so they cook evenly.
9. Add the kamaboko slices and the beansprouts and cook for 1 minute more.
10. Pour in the milk and bring the soup back to a boil, which turns it cloudy and rounds off the salt.
11. Taste the broth and correct it with a pinch more salt if needed.
12. Divide the noodles between two deep bowls and ladle the soup and every scrap of topping over them.