The best bowl in Milan: Minestrone alla milanese

Serves 6 · 3 hr · Medium

On Christmas Eve, Milanese families eat busecca after midnight mass.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) cleaned honeycomb tripe
• 3 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 oz (60 g) pancetta, chopped
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 celery stalks, diced
• 4 sage leaves
• 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 can (14 oz / 400 g) crushed tomatoes
• 1 1/2 quarts (1.4 l) beef broth
• 1 can (14 oz / 400 g) cannellini or borlotti beans, drained
• Salt, pepper, lots of grated Parmigiano

How to make it

1. Boil the tripe 10 minutes, drain and rinse, then cut into thin strips about 2 inches (5 cm) long.
2. Melt the butter with the oil, add the pancetta and vegetables and cook 12 minutes. Add the sage and tomato paste.
3. Add the tripe, tomatoes and broth. Simmer, partly covered, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the tripe is tender.
4. Add the beans for the last 20 minutes. Season and serve with plenty of Parmigiano and toasted bread.

Chef's tips

• It reheats beautifully; make it the day before.

Contains: milk.

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 · 4 hr · Medium

Kyoto's classic is a clear-ish pork and chicken broth seasoned with a dark soy tare, topped with plenty of thinly sliced green onion. It's simpler than a tonkotsu: the broth simmers gently, not hard.

You need

• For the broth: 2 lb (900 g) pork neck bones, 2 lb (900 g) chicken backs, 4 quarts (3.8 l) water, 1 onion, 2-inch piece ginger, 6 garlic cloves, 1 piece kombu (4 inches)
• For the chashu: 1 1/2 lb (700 g) pork shoulder, tied; 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup mirin, 1/4 cup sake, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 cup water
• For the shoyu tare: 1/2 cup dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tbsp sake, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp of the chashu braising liquid
• 2 tbsp pork fat or lard (back fat if you can, for the classic seabura flecks)
• 4 portions (about 1 lb / 450 g) fresh thin straight ramen noodles
• To top: 1 big bunch scallions or kujo negi, thinly sliced on the diagonal; menma; a sprinkle of white pepper

How to make it

1. Blanch the pork bones and chicken backs in boiling water 10 minutes, drain and rinse.
2. Return them to a clean pot with the 4 quarts water, the onion, ginger and garlic. Bring to a boil, then keep at a gentle simmer, uncovered, 3 1/2 hours, skimming now and then. Add the kombu for the last 20 minutes only. Strain; you want about 2 quarts.
3. Meanwhile, brown the pork shoulder in a pot, add the soy, mirin, sake, sugar and water, cover and simmer on low 2 hours, turning every 30 minutes. Cool, then slice thin.
4. Make the tare: simmer the soy, mirin, sake and sugar 2 minutes, then add the braising liquid.
5. Melt the pork fat in a small pan.
6. Warm 4 deep bowls with hot water. Put 3 tbsp tare and 1/2 tbsp pork fat in each.
7. Boil the noodles in a big pot of unsalted water as the packet says (usually 60-90 seconds), shake dry and add to the bowls. Pour 1 1/2 cups simmering broth over each, then top with pork, menma, a big heap of green onions and white pepper.

Pans and tools

• 12-quart stockpot
• medium pot for the pork
• fine sieve
• large pot for noodles

Chef's tips

• Taste the first bowl and add tare a teaspoon at a time; it should taste salty-savory, not sharp.
• Kujo negi are Kyoto's long green onions; the green tops of leeks sliced paper-thin come close.
• The broth freezes well.

Contains: gluten, soy.

Our recipe, the same one we give for shoyu ramen in Kyoto. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 20 min, plus broth · Easy

Legend says a farmer's wife made it for the King of France after the battle of Pavia. It's only as good as your broth.

You need

• 1 1/2 quarts (1.4 l) very good beef or chicken broth
• 4 tbsp (60 g) butter
• 8 slices country bread
• 4 very fresh eggs
• 3/4 cup (75 g) grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano
• Salt, black pepper

How to make it

1. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and season it well.
2. Fry the bread in the butter until golden on both sides. Put 2 slices in each warm soup plate.
3. Crack an egg onto the toast in each plate, keeping the yolk whole, and cover with a good handful of cheese.
4. Pour the boiling broth gently around (not on) the egg; the heat cooks the white and warms the yolk. Grind pepper over and serve at once.

Chef's tips

• For a firmer egg, slip the plates into a 450°F (230°C) oven for 2 minutes.

Contains: egg, wheat, milk.

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.