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Cheat’s spicy pork ramen

Name: Cheat’s spicy pork ramen
Total time: 4 h
Ingredients: pork belly 500g piece, skin and excess fat removed; soy sauce 100ml, plus a splash; mirin 100ml; ramen noodles 1 pack – around 270g; young spinach 4 handfuls; hard boiled eggs 4, to serve; beansprouts a handful; spring onions 1/2 bunch, finely sliced; spring onions 1/2 bunch, chopped; ginger 6 slices; red chilli 1, halved; garlic 1 clove, halved; chicken stock 1.5 litres; sesame oil a splash

4 hours + overnight chilling
serves 4
Easy

Ramen may seem like one of those dishes you can't recreate at home, but this recipe for cheat’s spicy pork ramen changes that. Rather than spending hours making stock, we buy a good flavoured one and spike it with Asian aromatics

Published: April 22, 2015 at 4:48 pm

Ingredients

pork belly 500g piece, skin and excess fat removed
soy sauce 100ml, plus a splash
mirin 100ml
ramen noodles 1 pack – around 270g
young spinach 4 handfuls
hard boiled eggs 4, to serve
beansprouts a handful
spring onions 1/2 bunch, finely sliced

SPICY BROTH

spring onions 1/2 bunch, chopped
ginger 6 slices
red chilli 1, halved
garlic 1 clove, halved
chicken stock 1.5 litres
sesame oil a splash

Method

Step 1

Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. To make the pork belly, put the pork in a small baking dish it will fit snugly. Mix the soy, mirin and 200ml water, and pour this over the pork belly.Add a little more water, if needed, to just cover the meat. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 3 hours. Pour away the cooking liquid. Cool the pork for 30 minutes, then wrap it in clingfilm and weight down with a heavy chopping board. Chill overnight, or for at least 6 hours to set the shape.
Step 2

To make the broth, put the spring onions, ginger, chilli and garlic on a chopping board and bruise them all with a rolling pin. Put it into a pan, add the chicken stock and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Strain out all the solids and discard them.
Step 3

Slice the pork into neat slices and reheat it in the broth, adding a splash of soy and sesame oil for flavour.
Step 4

Cook the ramen following the packet instructions, and drain and divide the noodles between 4 warmed bowls.Add a handful of spinach to each bowl, then pour over the simmering broth. Top with a few slices of pork, egg halves, beansprouts and spring onion.