The best bowl in Paris: French onion soup

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 · 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 2 · 30 min · Easy

'Moon-viewing' soba: the egg yolk sits on the noodles like the full moon. Good dashi makes it.

You need

• Dashi: 1 quart (950 ml) water, 1 piece kombu (4 inches / 10 cm), 1 cup (15 g) bonito flakes
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) soy sauce (usukuchi if you have it)
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin
• 1 tsp sugar
• 7 oz (200 g) dried soba
• 2 very fresh eggs
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• Shichimi togarashi, to serve

How to make it

1. Soak the kombu in the water 30 minutes, then heat until bubbles form at the edge and remove it. Add the bonito, turn off the heat, steep 3 minutes and strain.
2. Add the soy, mirin and sugar to the dashi and bring to a simmer.
3. Cook the soba 1 minute less than the packet says, drain and rinse under cold water to remove the starch, then dip in hot water to warm.
4. Divide the soba between deep bowls, pour over the hot broth, and make a well in each. Crack in an egg yolk (or a whole egg), top with scallions and serve with shichimi.

Chef's tips

• Rinsing the soba is the step people skip; it keeps the broth clear.

Contains: wheat, buckwheat, soy, fish, egg.

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 · Easy

Two meals in one pot: the broth on the first night, the beef with mustard on the second.

You need

• 3 lb (1.4 kg) mixed beef: chuck, short rib and shank
• 4 marrow bones, ends wrapped in cheesecloth
• 1 onion stuck with 3 cloves, 1 head garlic, halved
• A bouquet garni (thyme, bay, parsley stems)
• 1 tbsp coarse salt, 10 peppercorns
• 6 carrots, 3 leeks, 1 small celery root, 6 small turnips, all in big pieces
• 6 small potatoes, boiled separately
• Dijon mustard, cornichons and flaky salt, to serve

How to make it

1. Put the beef in a big pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil and skim for 10 minutes.
2. Add the onion, garlic, bouquet garni, salt and peppercorns. Simmer very gently, lid ajar, 3 hours.
3. Add the carrots, leeks, celery root and turnips and the marrow bones; simmer 45 minutes more.
4. Ladle the broth into cups first, with toast spread with the marrow. Then serve the sliced beef and vegetables with potatoes, mustard, cornichons and salt.

Chef's tips

• Chill the leftover broth, lift off the fat, and you have the best soup base for a week.

Contains: mustard.

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.