Cheat's Ramen

Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

800g smoked ham hock
1L chicken stock
4cm piece of ginger (about 30g), sliced
6 spring onions, white part roughly chopped, green part thinly sliced
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
200g good-quality instant ramen noodles with seasoning
4 fridge-cold eggs
1 small daikon, cut into 3mm thick slices.
3 large handfuls of bean sprouts, rinsed under cold running water and patted dry.
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted.
1 nori sheet, cut into 4 squares
freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place the ham hock, stock, ginger, whites of the spring onion (reserve the greens to serve), mirin, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and the seasoning from the instant ramen in a very large saucepan, along with 1.2 litres of water. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 40–45 minutes until the meat on the ham hock falls easily away from the bone. Remove the ham hock from the pan and cool a little on a chopping board before picking the ham from the bone and discarding the bone, skin and fat. Strain the ramen stock into a clean saucepan.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil, gently add the eggs and cook for 6 1⁄2 minutes.

Remove the eggs and place in a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process. Peel the eggs by tapping lightly on the bench and running thumb and finger between shell and egg. Cut in half, cover and set aside.

Bring the ramen stock to the boil, add the noodles and slices of daikon and simmer for 3 minutes until the noodles are just tender but still have a nice chew to them. Using tongs, carefully transfer the noodles and daikon to four bowls and then pour in the broth.

Top each bowl with a halved egg, some ham, spring onion greens, bean sprouts, sesame seeds and a square of nori. Season the egg with a generous twist of pepper and serve immediately.

Tip – If you can’t find daikon, you can replace it with turnip or any other type of radish.

I use Spiral brand ramen noodles and seasoning because they contain no MSG or artificial additives.

If you like a bit of heat, serve with your favourite chilli sauce on the side.