The best bowl in Amsterdam: Pea soup

Serves 4 · 1 hr 30 min · Easy

Saoto is all about the toppings: a clear, fragrant broth goes over everything at the table, so set it all out first.

You need

• 1 whole chicken leg and 1 bone-in breast (about 2 lb / 900 g)
• 2 quarts (1.9 l) water
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
• 2-inch (5 cm) piece ginger, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 shallot, halved
• 3 kaffir lime leaves (or the zest of 1 lime)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus more to taste
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 oz (115 g) glass (mung bean) noodles, soaked 10 minutes in hot water
• 2 cups (200 g) bean sprouts
• 4 eggs, boiled 8 minutes and halved
• 2 cups (100 g) thin fried potato sticks
• Fried shallots, sliced celery leaves and sambal, to serve

How to make it

1. Put the chicken, water, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallot, lime leaves and coriander in a pot. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer gently 50 minutes.
2. Lift out the chicken, let it cool a little, and pull the meat into shreds. Strain the broth and season with the soy sauce and salt.
3. Drain the noodles. Blanch the bean sprouts in the hot broth for 30 seconds and lift them out.
4. Divide noodles, bean sprouts, chicken and egg halves between deep bowls.
5. Pour the very hot broth over each bowl, then top with potato sticks, fried shallots and celery leaves. Pass the sambal.

Chef's tips

• Add the potato sticks at the table so they stay crisp.
• The broth keeps 3 days; reheat it to a full boil before pouring.

Contains: egg, soy.

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 6 · 4 hr 30 min

A clear, fragrant beef broth simmered for hours with charred onion, ginger and warm spices, poured over rice noodles and paper-thin raw beef. Inspired by the beef noodle soup at Le Colonial in Houston.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) beef oxtail, cut in sections
• 2 lb (900 g) beef marrow or knuckle bones
• 2 medium yellow onions (about 1 lb), halved and left unpeeled
• 4-inch piece fresh ginger (about 3 oz), halved lengthwise
• 3 whole star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 5 quarts (4.7 liters) cold water, plus more for parboiling
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 lb (450 g) dried flat rice noodles (banh pho)
• 8 oz (225 g) beef tenderloin, trimmed and sliced paper thin
• 1 small white onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 cup Thai basil leaves
• 1/2 cup cilantro sprigs
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
• 3 limes, cut into wedges
• Hoisin sauce and sriracha for the table (3 tablespoons each)

How to make it

1. Put the oxtail and bones in the stockpot, cover with cold water by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil hard for 10 minutes while gray scum rises, then drain and rinse every piece under cold water. Scrub out the pot.
2. Heat the broiler with a rack 4 inches from the element. Broil the onion halves and ginger on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, turning once, until blackened in spots and soft. Cool, peel off the loose skin, and rinse.
3. Toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, coriander and fennel in the dry skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Tie them into cheesecloth.
4. Return the bones to the clean pot with the 5 quarts cold water, charred onion, ginger and the spice bundle. Bring to a boil over high heat, about 20 minutes, skimming off foam.
5. Reduce the heat to low so the surface barely trembles. Simmer partly covered for 3 hours, skimming now and then, and lift out the spice bundle after the first hour so it does not turn bitter.
6. Lift the oxtail onto a plate. When cool enough to handle, pull the meat off the bones in large pieces and set aside, returning the bones to the pot.
7. Strain the broth through the fine-mesh strainer into a clean pot, pressing lightly. Skim fat from the top with a ladle, then stir in the fish sauce, salt and sugar and taste, adding fish sauce until savory with a slight sweetness. Keep at a bare simmer.
8. About 40 minutes before serving, wrap the beef tenderloin and freeze it for 20 minutes to firm it up. Soak the dried noodles in warm tap water for 30 minutes, until pliable and white.
9. Slice the chilled beef against the grain as thin as paper. Arrange the sliced onion, scallions, sprouts, basil, cilantro, jalapeno and lime wedges on a platter.
10. Boil a large pot of water and cook the soaked noodles for 1 to 2 minutes, until tender but still springy. Drain and divide among 6 large bowls, then lay the shredded oxtail and raw beef slices on top.
11. Bring the broth to a rolling boil, then ladle at least 1 1/2 cups over each bowl; the heat cooks the raw beef to a blush pink within a minute. Serve with the garnish platter, hoisin and sriracha.

Pans and tools

• 12-quart stockpot
• rimmed baking sheet
• dry skillet
• fine-mesh strainer
• cheesecloth or tea ball for spices
• large pot for noodles
• sharp slicing knife
• instant-read thermometer

Chef's tips

• Common mistake: boiling the broth hard, which turns it cloudy. Keep it at a bare simmer and skim.
• Make-ahead: the broth keeps 5 days refrigerated or 3 months frozen. The fat that hardens on top is easy to lift off.
• Reheat the broth to a full boil before serving or the raw beef will not cook.
• Swap: use beef shank or short rib for part of the oxtail, and gluten-free tamari-free hoisin is optional at the table.

Contains: fish, soy, wheat.

From The Best 100: our home version, inspired by Le Colonial, Houston. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 12 hr (mostly simmering) · Weekend project

Tonkotsu is pork bones boiled hard, not simmered, until the fat and collagen emulsify and the broth goes white. It takes a day, but it's mostly waiting.

You need

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) pork trotters and neck bones, cut by the butcher
• 1 lb (450 g) chicken backs
• 1 onion, halved, 1 head garlic, halved, 2-inch (5 cm) ginger, sliced
• 4 scallions, white parts
• For the tare: 1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce, 1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin, 2 tbsp sake, 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb (450 g) pork belly, rolled and tied
• 4 eggs
• 4 portions (about 1 lb / 450 g) thin fresh ramen noodles
• To serve: sliced scallions, nori, bean sprouts, pickled ginger, sesame seeds

How to make it

1. Cover the bones with cold water, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes, drain and scrub off the grey scum. Clean the pot.
2. Return the bones with fresh water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm). Boil hard, lid off, 10 to 12 hours, topping up with boiling water to keep the bones covered. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and scallions for the last hour. Strain: you want about 2 quarts (1.9 l) of white broth.
3. Meanwhile, braise the pork belly in the tare plus 1 cup (240 ml) water, covered, at a low simmer for 2 hours, turning now and then. Cool, slice thin, and keep the braising liquid.
4. Boil the eggs 6 1/2 minutes, chill in ice water, peel and soak in 1/2 cup of the braising liquid for at least 4 hours.
5. Put 2 tbsp braising liquid in each warm bowl. Cook the noodles 1 minute less than the packet says, drain well and add. Ladle 2 cups of boiling broth over each, then top with pork, a halved egg, scallions and nori.

Chef's tips

• A pressure cooker gets the broth white in about 2 hours on high.
• Taste the broth with the tare in it before adding salt; the tare is the seasoning.

Contains: wheat, soy, egg, sesame.

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 1 hr 30 min

Dried flounder and dried shrimp give the broth its deep, sweet sea flavor. Toast the flounder before simmering. Fill the wontons with mostly shrimp and a little pork fat so they snap when you bite.

You need

• For the broth: 1 oz (30 g) dried flounder (daimyo fish), 2 tbsp dried shrimp, 2 lb (900 g) pork bones, 1 small piece rock sugar or 1 tsp sugar, 10 cups (2.4 l) water, 1 tsp salt, white pepper
• For the wontons: 10 oz (280 g) raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and patted dry
• 2 oz (55 g) fatty ground pork
• 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 egg yolk
• About 32 thin square wonton wrappers (the yellow Hong Kong style)
• 4 portions (about 10 oz / 280 g) thin fresh egg noodles (wonton noodles)
• To serve: chopped yellow chives or scallions, a few drops of sesame oil, red vinegar and chili oil on the side

How to make it

1. Toast the dried flounder in a dry pan over medium-low heat, 2 to 3 minutes a side, until golden and fragrant. Break into pieces.
2. Put the pork bones in a pot of cold water, bring to a boil for 5 minutes, drain and rinse. This keeps the broth clear.
3. Return the bones to the clean pot with the toasted flounder, dried shrimp, rock sugar and the 10 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer very gently, uncovered, for 1 hour. Never let it boil hard or it clouds. Strain, season with salt and white pepper.
4. For the wontons, cut each shrimp into 3 pieces, and lightly smash half of them with the flat of a cleaver. Mix with the pork, salt, sugar, sesame oil, pepper, cornstarch and yolk. Stir hard in one direction for 2 minutes until sticky. Chill 15 minutes.
5. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper. Wet the edges, fold in half into a triangle, press out the air, then bring the two side corners together and pinch. Keep them under a damp towel.
6. Bring two pots of water to a boil. Boil the wontons in one for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float and the shrimp shows pink through the wrapper.
7. Shake the noodles loose and cook them in the other pot for 20 to 30 seconds only. Lift them out and rinse quickly under cold water, then dip back in the hot water 5 seconds. This gives the springy bite.
8. Put 8 wontons in each bowl, the noodles on top, then ladle over the hot broth. Finish with chives and a drop of sesame oil. Serve with red vinegar and chili oil.

Pans and tools

• Stockpot
• Two pots for boiling
• Fine-mesh strainer
• Spider or slotted spoon

Chef's tips

• Dried flounder is sold in Chinese grocers; the broth is still good without it, using more dried shrimp.
• Freeze extra wontons on a tray, then bag them. Cook from frozen, adding a minute.
• Hong Kong noodles are alkaline, thin and yellow; look for fresh wonton noodles in the refrigerated aisle.

Contains: shellfish, fish, wheat, egg, sesame.

Our recipe from The dish in every city. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.