Saimin with Char Siu Pork & Napa Cabbage

Ingredients

• 8 oz Char Siu Pork, thinly sliced
• 12 oz fresh saimin or thin egg noodles
• 2 cups Napa Cabbage, sliced
• 6 cups water
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 piece (4-inch) kombu
• ⅓ cup dried shrimp or ½ cup bonito flakes
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 2 eggs, cooked into a thin omelet and shredded
• 1 sheet nori, cut into strips
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• Salt and white pepper

Method

1. Steep the kombu, shiitakes, and dried shrimp in the water over low heat for 20 minutes, never letting it boil. Boiling kombu turns the broth bitter and slick.
2. Strain the dashi, slice the rehydrated shiitakes thin, and return them to the pot. Season with soy sauce, mirin, ginger, salt, and white pepper. The broth should be clear, light, and gently savory — saimin is not ramen.
3. Cook the noodles in a separate pot of water until just tender, then rinse briefly. Cooking them in the broth clouds it with starch.
4. Blanch the Napa Cabbage in the broth for 1 minute so it stays crisp and bright.
5. Divide noodles among bowls, ladle over the hot broth, and arrange the Char Siu Pork, Napa Cabbage, shredded egg, scallions, and nori across the surface rather than stirring them in.
6. Finish with a few drops of sesame oil and eat while the nori still holds its shape.