Beef & Miso Ramen

Ingredients

• 1 litre beef or chicken stock
• 300 g ramen or egg noodles
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 15 g fresh ginger, finely grated
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white miso paste
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 200 g pak choi, halved
• 300 g beef sirloin or rump steak, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, soft-boiled 6 minutes, halved
• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
• Pickled cucumber, to serve
• Fresh coriander, to serve

Method

1. Lower the eggs into a pan of well-salted boiling water and cook for exactly 6 minutes. Lift them straight into a bowl of iced water — the shock stops the cook dead and keeps the yolks jammy. Peel and halve only when you're ready to plate.
2. Bring the stock to a gentle simmer in a large pan. Whisk in the miso, soy and sesame oil until smooth, then drop in the sliced garlic and grated ginger. Keep it at a bare simmer — boil miso hard and you bully the flavour out of it, and the garlic should soften and turn fragrant in the liquid in around 30 seconds, never frying. Don't burn it: the broth carries every note, and bitter garlic ruins the lot. Cook for 5 minutes until the kitchen smells deeply savoury.
3. Taste the broth. Most of the salt comes from the miso and soy, but adjust now with a splash more soy or a pinch of salt until it tastes properly rounded — at the pan, not at the table.
4. Drop the noodles straight into the broth and cook for 2–3 minutes, until just tender with a little spring left. Tuck the halved pak choi in for the final minute so the stems soften but the leaves stay vivid green.
5. Meanwhile, pat the beef slices dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no colour. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper before it hits the pan. Heat the vegetable oil in a stainless or cast iron frying pan over high heat until it shimmers and you see the first wisp of smoke.
6. Sear the beef in two batches in a single layer — don't crowd the pan or the slices steam in their own juices instead of taking on a proper crust. 30 seconds each side is all you need: deep brown outside, blushing pink within. Lift onto a warm plate to rest.
7. Splash a ladle of the hot broth into the empty sear pan and swirl for 20 seconds, scraping up the brown stuck bits with a wooden spoon. Tip this beefy, glossy liquid back into the broth pot — that's the deglaze working for you, free flavour you'd otherwise wash down the sink. Taste, season, taste again — adjust now.
8. Ladle the noodles, pak choi and steaming broth into two deep bowls. Drape the seared beef over the top and nestle the halved soft-boiled eggs alongside, yolks facing up. Scatter over the spring onions, toasted sesame seeds and chilli flakes, then finish with a drizzle of extra sesame oil and an extra pinch of chilli flakes and spring onion as it hits the table.