KOSHER COOKERY RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Rinse your chicken in cold water, pat it dry with kitchen paper and put it into your biggest pot. Cover with cold water to come about 8 to 10cm above the chicken. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes. Skim the froth off the top of the chicken.
  2. Add the chopped veg, garlic cloves, bay leaves and thyme sprigs, and season with a good pinch of sea salt. Bring everything back to the boil, then turn the heat down and leave it to simmer for 1 hour. Carry on skimming the broth, reserving 4 tablespoons of this fat for your matzo balls.
  3. To make your matzo balls, beat the eggs in a large bowl and add 70ml of cold water, your cooled chicken fat and 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Beat again, then slowly stir in your matzo meal until well blended. Leave, covered with clingfilm, in the fridge for 30 minutes, then wet your hands with cold water and roll the dough into about 20 small balls. Don’t roll them too big because they’ll double in size when you cook them.
  4. When the soup has had its hour and a half, use tongs to carefully transfer the chicken to a roasting pan. Leave to cool, uncovered, for a few minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and strain it through your biggest sieve or colander. Pull out the decent-looking bits of veg and put these back into the soup, getting rid of anything else. Put the pan back on a medium heat and bring back to the boil, then add your matzo balls. Put a lid on the pan, turn the heat down a bit and simmer for 20 minutes, until the balls are light and puffy. Halfway through the 20 minutes, add your noodles or spaghetti to the pan and cook gently for the final 10 minutes.
  5. When your chicken has cooled enough to handle, either use two forks or pop on a pair of Marigolds and use your hands to shred the meat off the bone. Pile it on to a plate and get rid of the skin and bones. Pick the leaves from your parsley and roughly chop them with the dill. Add all your shredded chicken meat to the soup, along with the chopped herbs, and warm through for 3 minutes. Have a taste, and season with salt and pepper. I’d usually serve soup with a nice crusty roll, but to be honest, this is a meal in itself and perfectly delicious and nourishing on its own.

Steps:

• 1. The day before you’re going to cook, make the Marinated eggs and prep the pork. Sit the pork in a tray, sprinkle with the kosher salt and the sugar, drizzle over the soy, then rub all over. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
  2. The next day, preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF/gas 3.
  3. Remove the pork from the marinade, brushing off the excess salt and sugar. Place in a snug-fitting roasting tray, cover with tin foil and roast for 4 hours, or until super-tender, reserving the fat from the tray.
  4. Meanwhile, make the Ramen noodles.
  5. For the apple soffritto, peel and very finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger and apple (discarding the core). Place in a pan with the oil on a low heat and fry gently for 45 minutes, or until softened but not coloured, stirring regularly, then remove from the heat.
  6. For the shoyu tare, pour the sake and mirin into a pan and bring to the boil on a high heat. Leave to bubble away for 4 minutes, then reduce the heat to low, add the soy and apple soffritto, cook for an additional 5 minutes, then remove from the heat.
  7. When you’re getting ready to serve, make your broth: bring the stock and dashi to the boil in a large pan, then simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Put a pan of water on to boil for the noodles, then thinly slice the pork.
  8. Get yourself six warm bowls. Spoon 1 tablespoon each of the shoyu tare and reserved pork fat into the bowls, then divide up the broth. Cook the noodles in the pan of boiling water for 45 seconds (or according to the packet instructions), then remove, shaking off any excess water.
  9. Divide between the bowls, using chopsticks to separate, if needed. Top each bowl with slices of pork and a halved marinated egg. Trim and finely slice the spring onions and chilli (deseed if you like), and scatter over the top to finish.