Tantan Soup with Ramen, Pak Choi and Mad Eggs
Serves 4
Takes an hour to make, with overnight marinading preferable
Inspired by a lovely soup we had in a Japanese restaurant in Kensington, this is a deliciously comforting, nutty flavoured soup, with the noodles and pak choi and particularly the eggs providing a rich and tasty counterpoint. If you freeze the soup it can separate a bit, so give it a quick whizz in a blender when you defrost it
The Mad Eggs:-
200ml regular soy sauce
200ml water
20g sugar
½ tsp truffle oil
4 whole soft-boiled eggs, carefully peeled
The Tantan Soup:-
750ml chicken stock or Nage
375mls Nage
250mls Dashi
100g white sesame seeds
150g tahini
100mls regular soy sauce
25g sugar
1 hot chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
20g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
15g spring onion, finely chopped
To Serve:-
350g fresh ramen noodles (or use another noodle)
4 medium sized heads of pak choi, quartered
1 tbspn finely chopped coriander leaves
Mix together the soy, water, sugar, and truffle oil, then marinate the eggs in this overnight if possible, but for at least four hours
Heat a frying pan, and add the sesame seeds, toasting them till a good third of them are browning and oil is starting to leak from them. Whizz them in a blender
Put the stocks in a good sized heavy bottomed pan, bring them to a boil. Whisk in the sesame mix, then add the soy, the sugar, the chilli, the ginger, the spring onions and the tahini. Bring back to a boil and simmer gently for 15 mins. Whisk the dashi in, bring back to the boil again, then take off the heat
Meanwhile, steam the pak choi till it’s only just done, and set aside, then cook your noodles
Place a quarter of the noodles in each of four deep soup bowls, and ladle a portion of soup into each. Pile some pak choi on top. Place a soft boiled egg on top of the pak choi, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and serve