Shoyu Ramen with Chicken & Soft-Boiled Egg

📝 Ingredients

• 180 g dried ramen noodles (wheat noodles)
• 1 L chicken stock (homemade or made with 1 low-fat stock cube)
• 260 g chicken breasts
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp regular (salty) soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 20 g fresh ginger, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 100 g button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 baby pak choi, halved (or 2 handfuls of spinach)
• 2 spring onions, sliced (white and green parts kept separate)
• 1 nori sheet, cut into strips

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Small saucepan
• Frying pan
• Slotted spoon
• Bowl of iced water
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Pour the stock into the large saucepan with the crushed garlic, ginger slices, white part of the spring onions, 3 tbsp soy sauce and the sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave to infuse for 20 minutes over a low heat, covered: this is what gives the broth its depth.
2. Meanwhile, bring the small saucepan of water to the boil. Gently lower in the eggs straight from the fridge and cook for exactly 6 minutes 30 seconds, then transfer them to the bowl of iced water to stop the cooking. Peel them once cooled.
3. Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to get thin escalopes. Heat half the sesame oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and cook the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, until golden and the juices run clear in the centre.
4. Off the heat, drizzle the chicken with the last spoonful of soy sauce and turn it to coat well. Leave it to rest for 5 minutes on the board, then slice thinly: this keeps it nice and juicy.
5. Remove the ginger and garlic from the broth with the slotted spoon. Add the mushrooms and pak choi and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until the stems are tender but still crunchy. Taste and add a little water if it is too salty.
6. Refill the small saucepan with water and bring it to the boil. Cook the ramen noodles according to the packet (usually 3 to 4 minutes), then drain them as soon as they are tender: they will keep cooking in the hot broth.
7. Divide the noodles between two large warmed bowls, pour over the piping-hot broth with the vegetables, then top with the chicken slices, halved eggs, green part of the spring onions and the nori. Drizzle with the rest of the sesame oil and serve immediately.