Charred Chicken Ramen Bowls

By no means a traditional ramen but close enough and if anything, a chicken noodle soup to soothe the soul.

1. For the chicken, place all the ingredients in a bowl and allow to marinade while you prepare the broth.
2. To prepare the broth, place the chilli, garlic, ginger and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to a steady simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes until the broth has infused with flavour, strain and return the liquid to the pan. Add the carrots and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes until softened. Season to taste with salt and sesame oil.
3. Before the end of the cooking time, blanch the broccoli in the broth for 2-3 minutes until tender, remove using a slotted spoon and set aside.
4. While the broth simmers, cook the noodles according to the pack, once cooked drain and set aside.
5. To cook the chicken, heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook for 4 minutes either side or until cooked all the way through and the chicken has deep char marks. Remove from the heat and slice thinly.
6. Arrange the noodles in bowls with broccoli, chicken pieces, bean sprouts, spring onions and soft boiled eggs. Ladle over the hot broth with the carrots and mushrooms and serve straight away with fresh coriander and mint to garnish.

For the chicken:

4 chicken thighs, skinless & boneless

50ml low sodium soy sauce

50ml mirin

1 tbsp sesame oil

For the ramen broth:

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1 thumb sized piece ginger, thinly sliced

1.5 litres best quality chicken stock

2 large carrots, julienned

100g shiitake mushrooms, halved if large

1 tsp sesame oil

For the soup:

150g tenderstem broccoli, sliced into bite sized pieces

1 x 300g pack ramen noodles, cooked & drained

100g bean sprouts

6 spring onions, finely sliced

4 eggs, soft boiled, cut in half to serve

Small handful coriander leaves

Small handful mint leaves