A delicious dish that’s a fusion of China and Japan, the sweet, earthy, gingery mushrooms go so very well with the light, crisp, kale leaves, the soft sweet crunch of the beans, and the soft, comforting noodles. The kale goes very well by itself, by the way, on a table, in a bowl, as finger nibbles with drinkies

120g kale, stems discarded, leaves torn into 2cm pieces

1 dstspn sesame oil

120g frozen edamame beans

300g shiitake mushrooms, stems chopped, larger caps torn in two

1 tbspn olive oil

1 dstspn chives, finely chopped

1 heaped dstspn fresh ginger, very finely chopped, and mashed with the flat of a knife blade till the juice is coming out of it

2 spring onion whites, finely chopped

1 tbspns light soy sauce

1 dstspn black sesame seeds

80g good quality Ramen noodles (we find Hakubaku to be lovely)

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat your oven to 160C. Put the kale into a bowl and toss well with the sesame oil, and season with a little pepper. Spread out in a thin layer on a baking tray, put in the oven, and bake till it’s starting to go brown and crispy, about 15 mins, turning and tossing about halfway through. Once cooked, set aside

• Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, add the edamame beans, bring back to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside

• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the chives and the ginger and its juices and sizzle for 4 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and 80 mls of water. Cook the mushrooms over a medium heat until the water has almost entirely evaporated, then add the soy and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Set aside

• Cook the noodles as per the instructions on the packet. When they’re done, refresh them briefly in cold water and drain well. Then divide them between two soup plates, top with the mushrooms, edamame beans and kale, scatter with the chopped spring onions and sesame seeds, and serve