The best bowl in Osaka: Kitsune udon

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 · 2 hr · Easy

A Japanese winter one-pot. The daikon takes longest and is often the favorite. Fish cakes come in packs at Japanese markets.

You need

• 2 quarts (1.9 l) dashi
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) light soy (usukuchi), 3 tbsp mirin, 2 tbsp sake, 1 tsp salt
• 1 daikon, peeled, in 1 1/2 in (4 cm) rounds
• 6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
• 1 block konnyaku, in triangles, parboiled
• 1 block firm tofu or fried tofu (atsuage), in cubes
• 1 lb (450 g) mixed fish cakes (chikuwa, satsuma-age, hanpen)
• 4 cooked octopus tentacles on skewers (optional)
• Karashi (Japanese mustard), to serve

How to make it

1. Simmer the daikon rounds in water 15 minutes to soften; drain.
2. Heat the dashi with the soy, mirin, sake and salt in a wide pot.
3. Add the daikon, eggs and konnyaku and simmer gently 1 hour (don't boil).
4. Add the tofu, fish cakes and octopus and simmer 20 minutes more.
5. Serve straight from the pot with mustard.

Chef's tips

• It's better the next day, after everything has soaked overnight.

Contains: fish, eggs, soy, wheat, molluscs (octopus)..

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 2 · 20 min · Easy

An Osaka hangover bowl: lots of thin beef in clear, slightly sweet broth.

You need

• 3 cups (720 ml) dashi
• 2 tbsp light soy (usukuchi), 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar
• 8 oz (225 g) very thinly sliced beef (sukiyaki cut)
• 1/2 block soft tofu, in cubes
• 2 eggs
• Green onion, sliced
• Rice, to serve

How to make it

1. Heat the dashi with the soy, mirin and sugar.
2. Add the tofu and heat 2 minutes.
3. Add the beef a few slices at a time and simmer just until it changes color.
4. Crack an egg into each bowl, ladle over the hot soup and beef, and top with green onion.
5. Serve with rice.

Chef's tips

• Use the fattiest thin-sliced beef you can find.

Contains: soy, wheat, fish, eggs..

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 · 45 min · Easy

A table-top hot pot: everything goes in raw and cooks in the dashi, with the udon last.

You need

• 2 quarts (1.9 l) dashi
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) light soy, 1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin, 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 lb (225 g) chicken thighs, in bite-size pieces
• 8 clams, scrubbed
• 8 large shrimp
• 1/2 napa cabbage, in pieces
• 8 shiitake
• 1 bunch shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) or spinach
• 1 carrot, in thin slices
• 4 portions thick udon
• Green onion and grated daikon

How to make it

1. Heat the dashi with the soy, mirin and salt in a wide pot on a table burner.
2. Add the chicken and cabbage and simmer 8 minutes.
3. Add the clams, shrimp, mushrooms and carrot and cook until the clams open, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the udon and greens and cook 3 minutes.
5. Eat from the pot with green onion and grated daikon in each bowl.

Chef's tips

• Add more broth as you go; it's meant to be eaten slowly.

Contains: wheat, shellfish, soy, fish..

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.