The best bowl in Tokyo: Chicken paitan ramen

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 · 30 min · Easy

The soupy version of the Sichuan street classic: the sauce goes in the bowl and hot broth goes over.

You need

• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground pork
• 1 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sui mi ya cai (preserved mustard greens), optional
• For each bowl: 1 tbsp Chinese sesame paste or tahini, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp black vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, 1-2 tbsp chili oil, 1/4 tsp ground Sichuan pepper, 1 small garlic clove grated
• 5 cups (1.2 l) hot chicken broth
• 1 lb (450 g) fresh wheat noodles
• 4 handfuls bok choy or spinach
• Crushed roasted peanuts and green onion

How to make it

1. Fry the pork in the oil until crisp and brown, add the wine, soy and preserved greens and cook 2 minutes.
2. Put the sauce for each bowl in the bottom of the bowls and stir together.
3. Cook the noodles and the greens.
4. Ladle 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) hot broth into each bowl and stir into the sauce.
5. Add noodles and greens, top with the pork, peanuts and green onion, and stir before eating.

Chef's tips

• Toast the Sichuan peppercorns before grinding them.

Contains: wheat, soy, sesame, peanuts..

Our recipe, the same one we give for dan dan noodle soup in Auckland. 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.

Our recipe, the same one we give for soba in hot broth in Paris. 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)..

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