Tim says: “Ramen and curry shops in Japan often offer a variation on their product called gekikara, which roughly translates as ‘extreme spice’. Inspired by this phenomenon, here’s a spicy, one-pot ramen dish – the broth, the chicken and the noodles are all cooked in the same bowl. Whether or not you consider its heat level ‘extreme’ will depend on your tolerance for chilli, but it definitely has a kick!”

Serves 2

Ingredients

A

3 spring onions, sliced
900ml (30½fl oz/3¾ cups) water
1 chicken leg, bone in but skin off
1 lemongrass stalk, split lengthways
4 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon miso (any kind)
1 tablespoon soy sauce, or more, to taste
2 tablespoons hot chilli oil

B

1 fresh hot chilli, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
150g (5½ oz) dried ramen/egg noodles
½ pak choi (bok choi) or 1 baby pak choi, halved
100g (3½ oz) bean sprouts

C

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, coarsely ground
a few big pinches of chilli (hot pepper) flakes

Method

Divide the spring onions into white parts and green parts; set the green parts aside to use later. Combine the white parts with the water, chicken leg, lemongrass, tahini, miso, soy sauce and chilli oil in a large bowl, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the lemongrass and discard, then take the chicken out and set on a board or plate to cool. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your hands or forks into large chunks.

Add the fresh chilli and garlic to the broth (A) and whisk well to dissolve the miso and tahini. Add the noodles, pak choi and bean sprouts, cover and cook for 3–6 minutes until the noodles are done. Different noodles will absorb different amounts of water, so taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with more soy sauce as necessary.

Transfer the noodles (B) to large bowls, then pour over the broth and top with the pak choi, bean sprouts (B) and shredded chicken (A).

Garnish with the green parts of the spring onions, ground sesame and chilli flakes.

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