Salmon Ramen

Method

1. First, soft boil the eggs. Place them in a pot of boiling water, bring back to the boil and simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat, drain off the water and run a cold tap into the pan to cool down the eggs and stop them over cooking. Once they have cooled down, let them sit in the cold water until you are ready to serve.

2. Peel and shred the carrot into very thin strips. I use my Japanese mandoline to do this. If you have never come across a Japanese mandoline, look them up. This is a great little kitchen tool and quite inexpensive. You should be able to get one for about €35 and it is brilliant for thinly slicing and shredding vegetables. You could also use a spiraliser for this if you have one. The point is to shred the carrots very finely into long strips that you can then add to the dish at the end. Adding them to the serving bowls just before you pour over the ramen broth will mean they retain lots of flavour.

3. Remove the husks from the corn, wash it and then slice into six pieces about 2cm think. Wash and cut the bok choy into bite sized pieces. Set the bok choy, corn, and the shredded carrots aside for now.

4. Time now to prepare the ramen base. Wash and finely chop the spring onion. Peel and grate the ginger and the garlic. Deseed and finely chop the red chilli. Heat a large pan over a high heat and add the sesame oil. Reduce the heat to medium and add two thirds of the chopped scallions, reserving the rest to garnish your dish. Sautee the scallions for a minute and add the ginger and garlic.

5. Cook for another minute and add the chilli. Sauté for one further minute before adding the stock, the soy sauce, and the mirin. If you have some miso paste, add that now too. It has a fabulous flavour and will add some lovely depth to the ramen. Just pop two tablespoons in a bowl and stir in about 60ml of the stock to make a loose paste before adding that to the pan. If you do not have miso to hand, do not worry, your ramen will still be delicious without it. Bring the pot to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer. You can let it sit over a low heat while you cook the noodles and salmon.

6. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the ramen noodles as per the instructions on the pack. Most ramen noodles will cook in four to five minutes. Once they are done, drain them into a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water.

7. Heat a heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Add a little toasted sesame oil and then pop on the salmon fillets skin side down. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for three to four minutes until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip over and cook for another three minutes until the fish is just cooked through.

8. While the salmon is cooking, add the slices of corn and the bok choy to the broth and let them simmer gently. Remove the soft-boiled eggs form the pan of cold water and peel them carefully. The best way to do this is to carefully tap the shell on a work surface until it is cracked all over. You need to crack the shell into small pieces to avoid breaking the egg as you peel away the shell completely.

9. Time now to serve up the ramen. Warm two deep bowls and share the cooked noodles between them. Add a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves to each, and a serving of the shredded carrot. Ladle over lots of the hot ramen broth and add some corn and bok choy to each bowl.

10. Carefully slice the eggs in half and add those. Finally, add the salmon to the top, and garnish with the last of the chopped spring onions and some more sliced red chilli if you fancy it. Serve immediately.