Tsukemen Dipping Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 litre rich chicken or pork stock
• 20 g katsuobushi bonito flakes
• 15 g niboshi dried sardines
• 1 postcard-sized piece of kombu
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp ichimi togarashi chilli powder
• 200 g pork belly, cut into 1 cm dice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 portions thick ramen noodles, about 160 g each
• 8 slices chashu pork
• 4 marinated soft-boiled eggs, halved
• 60 g menma seasoned bamboo shoots
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 sheets nori, halved
• 1 tsp finely grated yuzu or lime zest
• 300 ml extra dashi, for the soup wari

Before you cook

• Wipe the kombu with a damp cloth and put it in a saucepan with the stock and the niboshi.
• Leave the kombu and niboshi to soak in the cold stock for 20 minutes.
• Cut the pork belly into 1 cm dice.
• Slice the spring onions and halve the eggs.
• Grate the yuzu zest into a tiny bowl.
• Fill a large bowl with cold water and plenty of ice for chilling the noodles.

Steps

1. Heat a small frying pan over medium heat with the vegetable oil.
2. Add the diced pork belly and fry for 8 minutes, until deeply browned and much of the fat has rendered.
3. Set the pork aside and leave the rendered fat in the pan.
4. Bring the stock with the kombu and niboshi slowly up to just below a simmer, which should take about 10 minutes.
5. Lift out the kombu the moment small bubbles appear at the edge of the pan.
6. Add the katsuobushi, turn off the heat, and let it steep for 3 minutes.
7. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pan and discard the solids.
8. Add the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, sake and rice vinegar to the strained broth.
9. Boil the broth hard for 12 to 15 minutes, until it has reduced to about 500 ml and tastes almost too strong to drink.
10. Stir the fried pork belly, the rendered fat and the ichimi togarashi into the broth.
11. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil.
12. Cook the thick noodles for 4 to 6 minutes, a minute longer than you would for soup ramen.
13. Drain the noodles and rinse them under cold running water, rubbing them with your hands to strip off the surface starch.
14. Plunge the noodles into the iced water for 30 seconds, then drain them thoroughly.
15. Pile the noodles onto four plates and top each with chashu, half an egg, menma and a piece of nori.
16. Pour the hot concentrated broth into four small dipping bowls.
17. Add the remaining egg halves, spring onions and a pinch of yuzu zest to the dipping bowls.
18. Heat the extra dashi and bring it to the table in a jug, so each person can dilute their leftover broth and drink it at the end.
19. Serve at once, telling everyone to dip a few strands at a time.