Mushroom Ramen with Seared Steak

I love Japanese food. It's clean, light, fresh and, most importantly, utterly delicious. Ramen is probably Japan's most famous export, alongside sushi, and whilst you might not be able to compete with Japanese ramen masters, you can make a pretty decent version of it at home with little to no effort!

The broth starts with good quality chicken stock and then it is enriched with the holy trinity of ginger, chilli and garlic. The noodles are cooked simply with mushrooms and pak choi, as well as some spring onions and more of the ginger/chilli/garlic combo.

Don't be afraid of undercooking the steak, the boiling hot broth continues to cook it as you eat, resulting in the most tender, flavor-packed meat you've ever eaten...

Mushroom Ramen with Seared Steak

Serves 2

750ml chicken stock

4cm piece ginger, ½ sliced, ½ shredded

1 red chilli, ½ left whole, ½ finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, 4 bashed and peeled, 2 finely chopped

2 tbsp. red miso paste 

150g straight-to-wok egg noodles

oil

125g mushrooms, sliced

5 spring onions, shredded, white and green separated

2 heads pak choi, shredded

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 large rump steak

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the stock and add the sliced ginger, the whole chilli half and the bashed garlic. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Scoop out the ginger, chilli and garlic and discard, and whisk in the miso until dissolved.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat a drizzle of oil in a large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the chopped chilli, mushrooms, spring onion whites, shredded ginger and pak choy for 5 minutes. Add the noodles and allow them to soften. Add the soy and sesame oil, and cook for a minute. Divide the stir-fried veg and noodles between two bowls.

Rub the steak all over with oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place, fat side down, in a frying pan over a high heat. Sear on all sides until nicely charred, leave to rest for 5 minutes. Pour any resting juices into the stock pot.

Slice the rested steak, it should be very rare as the stock will cook it some more. Arrange over the noodle mixture and then pour over the boiling stock, finishing with a sprinkle of spring onion greens.