PORK BELLY SOUP RECIPES

1. Stock: Place the chicken carcasses into a large saucepan and cover with about three litres of water. Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that forms at the surface. Simmer, covered, over very low heat (it should be barely simmering) for about four hours. Drain and reserve the stock.

2. In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil and fry the pork belly until lightly browned. Season with salt and stir in the Chinese cabbage. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the reserved stock, soy sauce and mirin and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes, add the spring onions and simmer for a further 20 minutes until the pork and Chinese cabbage are tender.

4. Add the pak choy and enoki mushrooms and cook for a further five minutes until they are tender.

5. Check the seasoning, adding more salt if necessary, and stir through the white pepper.

ADAM'S TIP

Making stock can take time, but if you want to speed up the process, use a pressure cooker. They can shave hours off the cooking time.

My go-to stock is just chicken bones and water – that's it. The stock is the foundation on which the rest of the soup is built. Just add a few carefully selected ingredients and a nutritious dinner is ready in no time. Slow-cooking the bones for your stock releases natural gelatin, which gives the soup a luxurious mouth-feel without the need for lots of fat or starch. You could also use pork bones or fish bones or a combination of any of them. Just cook them low and slow so that the stock doesn't become cloudy.

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.

Combine all the ingredients for the pork - except the pork itself. Whisk together in a small bowl and set aside half the sauce for later. 

Add the pork to the remaining sauce and make sure all the meat is covered, cover and let the meat marinate for at least 1-3 hours - the longer the better, overnight is ideal. 

When youre ready to cook, pre-heat your grill to a medium heat, 180 degrees. Drain the pork and discard the marinade. 

Place the slices of pork onto a shallow baking tray lined with foil. Cook for 15-20 minutes, basting 3 or 4 times throughout and flip half way through - until the pork becomes beautifully caramelised on both sides.

leave to cool slightly before serving with the spring onion, sesame seeds and a drizzle of the original marinde.