Tim says: “Nando’s is a national treasure. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Nando’s, and what’s not to like? I like it in particular because a Nando’s order doubles as the basis for a truly great bowl of ramen, provided you get a whole chicken. This may be one of the sillier concepts in this book, but it’s also one of the most delicious bowls.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken from Nando’s (any spice level)
• 1 order of Nando’s chicken livers (at least medium hot)
• 1 order of Nando’s chips
• 1 order of Nando’s corn on the cob
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or schmaltz
• 5–6 cherry tomatoes, diced
• 2 pinches of sesame seeds
• ≈80–120g (2.8–4.2 oz) Miso Tare (see below) or 60–90g (2–3.2 oz) miso
• 2 portions noodles 
• small handful coriander leaves
• chilli oil, to taste
• 2 ramen eggs, optional

Method

Begin by eating about three-quarters of the chicken, about half of the chicken livers and all but a few of the chips. (Don’t eat any of the corn.) 

Remove the leftover meat from the chicken frame, then place the bones in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then keep at a high simmer with a lid on the pan for 1 hour, topping up the water periodically to maintain a consistent level. 

Meanwhile, cut the corn kernels from the cob and coarsely chop the livers into a mince-like texture. Heat the olive oil or schmaltz in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the livers, corn and tomatoes, then stir-fry for 7–8 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and the mix is quite dry. Add the sesame seeds and remove from the heat.

When the broth is done, pass it through a sieve and measure it; you should have about 600ml (20 fl oz), so if it is significantly less than this, top it up with water or reduce it as necessary. Return to the pan and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and whisk in the miso or miso tare, tasting to adjust the seasoning as you like. Slice the leftover chicken meat into chopstick-friendly slices.

Prepare a separate pan full of boiling water and cook and drain the noodles. Divide the Nando’s broth into two bowls, then tip in the noodles and stir through. Top with the liver and corn mixture, the sliced meat, chilli oil, ramen eggs and coriander leaves.

Miso Tare

Ingredients

• 150g (5.3 oz) red miso
• 100g (3.5 oz) white miso
• 50g (1.75 oz) Hatchō or brown rice miso
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or animal fat
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 20
• g (0.7 oz) fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, crushed
• 4 tablespoons single (light) cream
• 4 tablespoons Ovaltine or malt powder
• 30g (1 oz) Parmesan or mature Cheddar, finely grated
• 1 tablespoon shoyu

Method

Stir together the three types of miso until well mixed.

Heat the oil or fat in a small saucepan over a medium high heat, then add the onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until everything softens and begins to colour, then add roughly half of the miso mixture and continue to cook for another 7–8 minutes, until the miso darkens as well. Whisk in the sake and boil for 3–4 minutes to cook off the alcohol, then add the sesame oil, sesame seeds and the cream. Bring to the boil and cook for another 3–4 minutes, stirring often.

Remove from the heat, leave to cool for a few minutes, then whisk in the Ovaltine, cheese, shōyu and remaining miso mixture. Transfer everything to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Tim says: “It’s pizza. It’s ramen. I probably don’t need to draw you a diagram to explain how delicious this is. While it may sound unforgivably silly, there is some precedent for it. First, in the many tomato ramen that have been around in Japan for years and, more recently, actual pizza-inspired bowls such as the famous pizza-soba at Ajito Ism in Tokyo.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Broth:

• Any chintan (see below)
• Mushroom Dashi (see below)

Tare:

• Miso (see recipe above)
• Stout and Tomato Shōyu (see below)

Noodles:

• 2 portions Springy-Chewy noodles or shop-bought

Oils:

• Olive oil

Toppings:

• Grated mozzarella
• Grated Parmesan
• Pizza soboro (see below)
• Crispy pepperoni (see below)
• Pickled guindilla peppers (or similar), thinly sliced

Optional toppings: 

• Garlic pizza crust (see below) 
• Chilli (hot pepper) flakes
• Fresh basil

For the garlic pizza crusts (optional):

• 90ml (6 tablespoons) lukewarm water
• ½ teaspoon dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 140g (5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• polenta (cornmeal), for dusting
• garlic cloves, as needed
• melted unsalted butter, as needed
• dried oregano, as needed

For the pizza sauce:

• 1 onion, finely diced
• 60ml (4 tablespoons) olive oil
• 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 140g (5 oz) tomato purée (paste)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1.6kg (3 lb 8 oz) tinned tomatoes (peeled whole tomatoes or pulp work best – not chopped)
• 20 grinds black pepper
• 50g (1.75 oz) basil, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon MSG
• 30g (1 oz) ketchup

For the pizza soboro:

• 40g (1.4 oz) pepperoni, sliced
• 30g (1 oz) green olives, sliced
• 50g (1.75 oz) tinned mushrooms, sliced
• 200g (7 oz) Sicilian fennel sausage meat

Method

If making the garlic pizza crusts, whisk together the water, yeast and olive oil until the yeast dissolves. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl, then add the wet mix to the dry mix. Knead for a few minutes, then leave to prove for about an hour, or overnight in the refrigerator.

Using plenty of extra flour and polenta, roll the dough out very thinly. Cook the dough until crisp on the bottom in either a very, very hot oven or in a large, flat frying pan.

Rub with garlic and brush with melted butter. Before serving, re-crisp in the oven and garnish with dried oregano. Cut into squares to serve.

For the sauce, fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat until soft and translucent, then add the garlic and continue to cook until the onion browns very lightly. Add the tomato purée and oregano and stir through, then add the tinned tomatoes and black pepper. Simmer for 4 hours, then add the basil, sugar, salt, MSG and ketchup. Blend with an immersion blender, but not too much – it should have some texture rather than being totally smooth.

To make the soboro, fry the pepperoni in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until crisp, then remove from the pan and drain. Add the remaining ingredients and sauté, breaking up the sausage into crumbles, for about 10 minutes until the meat is cooked through and browned all over.

Have all the toppings prepared and kept warm before cooking the noodles. To make the ramen, put 3–4 tablespoons of tare in each bowl, then add 200 ml (6.75 fl oz) broth and 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) pasta sauce and whisk well to combine. Cook and drain the noodles, then tip into the broth and top with the grated cheeses, soboro, pepperoni, pickled peppers and, if you fancy it, a little pinch of chilli and a few torn basil leaves. Finish with a drizzle of good olive oil and serve the pizza crusts on the side.

Note: The sauce recipe makes far more than you’ll need for a few bowls of ramen, but this is by design, because it’s a delicious sauce. Use it for actual pizza (duh) or as a dip for mozzarella sticks!

Vegetable Chintan

Ingredients

• 1 garlic bulb, halved
• 250g (8.8 oz) onion, skin on, thinly sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb (150–200 g/ 5.3–7 oz), thinly sliced
• 80g (2.8 oz) button mushrooms, quartered
• 100g (3.5 oz) hispi (pointed) cabbage leaves, roughly chopped
• 150g (5.3 oz) carrot, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) chunks
• 30g (1 oz) fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
• 15g (0.5 oz) kombu, cut into strips about 2.5 cm (1 in) wide
• 10g (0.35 oz) dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• ≈3 litres (102 fl oz) water
• 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan (425°F). Roast all the veg, including the kombu and shiitake, on a foil-lined baking tray for 20 minutes. This is partly to get a little bit of colour on everything, but mostly to cook out any harsh, raw veg flavour. Tip everything into a stock pot along with the yeast flakes and water, then bring to a bare simmer and hold between 85–90°C (185–194°F) for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Pass the broth through a sieve, then let the liquid settle for at least 30 minutes; during this time, any bits of veg that might cloud the broth will settle to the bottom of the container. Slowly pour the liquid back into the (rinsed-out) pot, being careful not to churn up the sediment on the bottom. Leave this sediment behind and discard.

Take a little bit (100 ml-ish/3.5 fl oz) of the broth and stir it together with the cornflour to form a thin slurry, then stir this into the broth and bring to a low boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. (It won’t be very thick, but you’ll be able to tell it’s more viscous from how the bubbles move through the broth as it simmers.)

Pass through a sieve once again, chill and store.

Mushroom Dashi

Ingredients

• 50g (1.75 oz) kombu
• 50g (1.75 oz) dried shiitake mushrooms
• 25g (0.9 oz) dried porcini or similar wild mushrooms
• 2.5 litres (85 fl oz) water
• 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)

Method

Add everything except the cornflour in a pot, and place a drop-lid (see note) directly on top of the ingredients to keep them submerged in the liquid. Set over a low heat, and slowly bring the water to a bare simmer. Once a few small bubbles appear in the water, switch off the heat and leave to infuse for an hour, then pass through a sieve.

When decanting, leave behind any dregs that have settled on the bottom of the container.

To increase the viscosity of the dashi, take about 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) of the liquid and stir it together with the cornflour to form a thin slurry. Stir this into the dashi and bring to a low boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. Chill and store.

Note: A drop-lid, or otoshibuta, is simply a lid which is slightly too small for the pan it’s in, so it rests directly on top of the food. Use one here to keep the shiitake mushrooms from floating to the surface and ensure maximum contact with the water.

Stout and Tomato Shōyu Tare

Ingredients

• 300ml (10 fl oz) shōyu
• 1 star anise
• 12g (0.4 oz) (about 2–3) dried shiitake mushrooms
• 100ml (3.5 fl oz) stout (don’t use anything too bitter or too thin; Guinness Export is a good example of what you’re after)
• 30g (1 oz) tomato paste (purée)
• 10g (0.35 oz) kombu

Method

Combine everything except the kombu in a saucepan and slowly bring to a high simmer over a low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then add the kombu. Leave to infuse at room temperature for 2 hours, then pass everything through a sieve, pressing down hard on the solids with the back of a ladle to extract as much liquid as possible

Tim says: “The full English breakfast and ramen occupy similar gastronomic spaces in their respective cultures. They’re both first and foremost a working-class pork and carb delivery mechanism, engineered to maximise the satietyto- cost ratio. However, both can be regionalised, fussed over and gussied up (to some extent), making them something all strata of society can get behind. They are democratic foods, but more importantly, they are both perfect for a hangover.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

Broth:

• Any paitan (see below)

Tare:

• Tantan (see below), plus any shio, miso or Stout and Tomato Shōyu (see above)

Noodles:

• 2 portions Go-to, Egg, Thick and Soft Toasted Sesame Wholegrain Jirō-Style noodles or shop-bought/instant

Oils

• Chilli
• Garlic Sesame
• Black Pepper Bacon

Toppings:

• Breakfast Soboro (see below)
• 2 rashers back bacon, grilled (broiled)
• 2 eggs, fried in butter
• 2 potato smiles or hash browns (or similar), cooked according to the
• packet instructions
• 1 handful coriander (cilantro) leaves
• Mala Mix, to taste
• Spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
• Sesame seeds
• Black Pepper Bacon

Optional toppings:

• Menma
• Fried garlic

For the breakfast soboro:

• 2 rashers streaky bacon, cut into lardons
• 2 tablespoons chilli oil
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 50 g (1.75 oz) button mushrooms (or similar), finely diced
• 100 g (3.5 oz) English sausage meat, or a mix of sausage and black pudding, white pudding or haggis
• 4 tablespoons baked beans
• 2 tinned peeled plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• shōyu, miso and/or brown sauce, to taste

Method

Prepare all of the toppings and set aside (keep them warm if necessary) until ready to cook the noodles.

To make the soboro, heat the bacon and chilli oil together in a frying pan over a medium heat. When the bacon is no longer raw and beginning to brown, add the onion and sauté for 4–5 minutes to soften. Add the garlic, mushrooms and sausage meat, then continue to sauté for another 8–10 minutes, breaking up the meat as you go to make a crumbled texture. Add the baked beans and tomatoes and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir well and taste the mixture, then add shōyu, miso and/or brown sauce to taste (bear in mind the rest of the dish will be quite salty so don’t overdo it).

Once everything is ready, cook the noodles and plate the ramen. Top with the soboro first, followed by the back bacon, fried eggs, potato smiles and then all of the remaining toppings.

Chicken Paitan

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or animal fat
• 50g (1.75 oz) fresh ginger root, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 garlic bulb, halved
• 250g (8.8 oz) chicken skin
• 250g (8.8 oz) chicken feet
• 800g (1 lb 12 oz) chicken wings
• 1.5kg (3 lb 5 oz) chicken frames, roughly chopped
• ≈3.5 litres (118 fl oz) water
• 4 bay leaves (optional)
• ½ teaspoon white pepper

Method

Heat the oil or fat in a roasting tray in a fan oven set to 200°C (425°F), then add all of the vegetables and chicken parts and roast for 40 minutes, turning everything once halfway through cooking. Remove the vegetables with tongs and set aside. Tip the chicken parts and any drippings from the tray into a stock pot and add the water (enough to cover) and bay leaves, and set over a high heat.

Boil hard for 4 hours, topping up the water as needed to maintain the water level. After 4 hours add the veg and the white pepper, and continue to boil for another 2 hours.

In the final hour, stop topping up the water and allow it to reduce slightly. Remove from the heat, then strain, chill and store according to the guide on page 26, or bring back to a high simmer if using immediately. Remember to re-emulsify the broth with an immersion blender before serving.

Tantan Tare

Ingredients

• 300g (10.6 oz) red (bell) peppers (about 2), deseeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 small-ish (about 5g/0.2 oz) Scotch bonnet (keep the seeds in if you want this hot, which is what I’d recommend), de-stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or animal fat of your choice
• 1 tablespoon gochugaru (or similar medium-hot chilli (hot pepper) flakes)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 250 g (8.8 oz) sesame paste
• juice of ½ lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• 60ml (4 tablespoons) water
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon shōyu

Method

Combine the peppers, Scotch bonnet, garlic, salt and oil in a saucepan and heat over a medium heat with a lid on the pan for about 15 minutes, stirring often, until the peppers and garlic are nicely browned and very soft. (Switch on the extractor and maybe even open a window when you do this, because the vapourised capsaicin from the Scotch bonnet can really irritate your eyes and throat.)

Add the dry spices and cook for a few minutes more, stirring well, then add the sesame paste and lemon, stir briefly and remove from the heat. Add the water, sesame oil and shōyu, and blend until totally smooth. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Note: You can use tahini for this, and it will be adequate, but I recommend going for the Chinese equivalent instead, typically labelled ‘sesame sauce’. It has a richer, nuttier flavour than tahini, which will make a big difference to your finished tantanmen.

Ramen Forever by Tim Anderson (£26, Hardie Grant) is out now