Tsukemen (dipping ramen)

Method

Tap a step's number to tick it off, and a time to start a timer.

Make the stock

1. 1

   Put the trotters and wings in a large pot, cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes, then drain and rinse every piece under cold running water, scrubbing any clotted blood off the trotters. Wash the pot.

2. 2

   Return the trotters and wings to the pot with the 3 l cold water and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming off the foam for the first 15 minutes. Then keep it at a lively rolling boil with the lid ajar. It will turn cloudy, then creamy-beige.

3. 3

   Boil like this for 2 hours, topping up with boiling water whenever the bones poke above the surface and scraping the bottom every 30 minutes so nothing catches. Then add the onion, garlic and ginger, take the lid off, stop topping up and boil hard for 1 hour more, still scraping the bottom, so the stock reduces.

4. 4

   Strain through a sieve into a jug, pressing hard on the solids and pushing the soft onion, garlic and trotter skin through for body. You want about 175 ml of thick, sticky stock per person. If you have more, boil it down in a wide pan, 10–20 minutes; if you have less, add a splash of water.

Make the dashi and fish powder (during the last hour of the stock)

5. 5

   Put the kombu and niboshi for the dashi in a pan with the 1 l cold water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Heat slowly over medium-low heat until small bubbles appear at the edge, about 10 minutes, then lift out the kombu. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, skimming. Turn off the heat, add the katsuobushi, leave for 5 minutes, then strain without squeezing. You'll have about 800 ml.

6. 6

   For the fish powder, toast the niboshi in a dry frying pan over low heat, shaking the pan, until fragrant and brittle, 3–4 minutes. Leave to cool, then grind with the katsuobushi in a spice grinder to a fine powder.

Make the dip

7. 7

   Put all the stock in a saucepan with about 40 ml dashi per person, the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and half the fish powder. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking, and simmer for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in the vinegar.

8. 8

   Taste: it should be strong, salty-savoury and slightly sweet and sharp, too much to sip comfortably. Adjust with a splash more soy sauce or vinegar if you like, then keep it hot, covered, over the lowest heat.

Cook the noodles and serve

9. 9

   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a rolling boil. Put the rest of the dashi in a small pan over low heat so it's steaming hot for the soup-wari. Fill four small, deep bowls with hot water to warm them, and set out a large bowl of iced water.

10. 10

    Cook the noodles as the packet says, usually 6–9 minutes for thick noodles, stirring early so they don't stick. They should be cooked right through; the cold rinse firms them up again.

11. 11

    Drain the noodles, then rinse them under cold running water, lifting and rubbing them with your hands to wash off the surface starch, until cold. Dunk them in the iced water for 30 seconds, then drain very well, shaking hard.

12. 12

    Pile the noodles on plates with the nori, menma and halved eggs alongside. Empty the warmed bowls, ladle in the hot dip and top with the rest of the fish powder and the spring onions.

13. 13

    To eat, dip a few strands at a time, about two-thirds of their length, and slurp. If the dip cools too much partway through, warm it briefly in a pan or the microwave.

14. 14

    For the soup-wari, when the noodles are gone, add hot dashi to each bowl of leftover dip, about 100–150 ml per person, a little at a time, until it tastes like a soup you'd happily drink.