Serves: 2 Time: ~30 minutes

Ingredients

Pork

  • 300 g pork shoulder/bondiola/paleta
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated or minced
  • 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp neutral oil

Broth

  • 750 ml good chicken or pork stock
  • 1–1½ tbsp white or yellow miso
  • 1½ tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 small piece kombu, optional
  • 1 garlic clove, lightly crushed
  • 2–3 thin slices fresh ginger
  • ½ tsp fish sauce, optional
  • ½ tsp MSG, optional

Toppings

  • 2 eggs
  • 100–150 g mushrooms, preferably shiitake
  • 2–3 spring onions
  • 1 sheet nori, cut into pieces
  • Chili oil or chili crisp, to taste
  • Sesame seeds, optional

Noodles

  • 2 portions ramen noodles, fresh or dried

1. Make the eggs

Bring a saucepan of water to a vigorous boil.

Lower in the eggs and cook for 6½ minutes.

Transfer immediately to cold water. Peel once cool.

For a quick marinade, mix:

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp water
  • ½ tsp sugar

Put the peeled eggs in the mixture while you prepare the rest.

2. Start the broth

Put the stock in a saucepan with:

  • kombu, if using
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 2–3 slices ginger

Bring almost to a simmer and cook gently for 10 minutes.

Remove the kombu.

Mix in:

  • miso
  • soy sauce
  • sugar
  • fish sauce, if using
  • MSG, if using

Keep the broth hot but don’t boil it hard after adding the miso.

At the end, add the sesame oil and rice vinegar.

Taste and adjust. It should be strongly savory because the noodles will dilute the flavor slightly.

3. Cook the pork

Slice the pork into pieces about 1 cm thick.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high/high heat. Add the neutral oil.

Sear the pork until deeply browned on both sides, about 2–3 minutes per side.

Add:

  • garlic
  • ginger
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp water

Reduce the heat and toss the pork in the sauce for 2–3 minutes, until glossy and caramelized.

Remove the pork and keep warm.

Don’t clean the pan.

4. Brown the mushrooms

Slice the mushrooms.

Put them directly into the pork pan and cook over medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes, letting them brown well.

The leftover pork glaze will coat them.

5. Make the aromatic oil

Finely slice one spring onion.

Put it in a small heatproof bowl with:

  • a little minced garlic
  • chili flakes, if desired

Heat about 1 tbsp neutral oil until quite hot.

Pour the oil over the spring onion and garlic.

It should sizzle.

This takes about 30 seconds and adds a surprisingly large amount of flavor.

6. Cook the noodles

Cook the ramen noodles separately according to their instructions.

Drain well.

Don’t cook them in the broth—the starch will make the broth cloudy and can make the noodles overcooked.

7. Assemble

Divide the noodles between two large bowls.

Pour over the hot broth.

Arrange on top:

  • glazed pork
  • browned mushrooms
  • halved eggs
  • sliced spring onions
  • pieces of nori

Add:

  • ½–1 tsp aromatic oil per bowl
  • chili oil/chili crisp to taste
  • sesame seeds, if using

Serve immediately.

The important details

Brown the pork hard. This gives you much more flavor than simply simmering it.

Don’t boil the miso. Add it toward the end.

Brown the mushrooms separately. Their flavor is much better this way.

Season the broth slightly aggressively. The noodles and toppings will dilute it.

The rice vinegar matters. Just a teaspoon cuts through the richness and makes the whole bowl taste brighter.

Optional upgrade

If you have tahini or Chinese sesame paste, add 1 teaspoon per bowl to the broth. It makes the ramen richer and creamier without requiring a long-cooked pork broth.