Inspired by a lovely soup we had in a Japanese restaurant in Kensington, this is a deliciously comforting, nutty flavoured soup, with the noodles and pak choi and particularly the eggs providing a rich and tasty counterpoint. If you freeze the soup it can separate a bit, so give it a quick whizz in a blender when you defrost it

The Mad Eggs:-

200ml regular soy sauce

200ml water

20g sugar

½ tsp truffle oil

4 whole soft-boiled eggs, carefully peeled

The Tantan Soup:-

750ml chicken stock or Nage

375mls Nage

250mls Dashi

100g white sesame seeds

150g tahini

100mls regular soy sauce

25g sugar

1 hot chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

20g ginger, peeled and finely chopped

15g spring onion, finely chopped

To Serve:-

350g fresh ramen noodles (or use another noodle)

4 medium sized heads of pak choi, quartered

1 tbspn finely chopped coriander leaves

• Mix together the soy, water, sugar, and truffle oil, then marinate the eggs in this overnight if possible, but for at least four hours

• Heat a frying pan, and add the sesame seeds, toasting them till a good third of them are browning and oil is starting to leak from them. Whizz them in a blender

• Put the stocks in a good sized heavy bottomed pan, bring them to a boil. Whisk in the sesame mix, then add the soy, the sugar, the chilli, the ginger, the spring onions and the tahini. Bring back to a boil and simmer gently for 15 mins. Whisk the dashi in, bring back to the boil again, then take off the heat

• Meanwhile, steam the pak choi till it’s only just done, and set aside, then cook your noodles

• Place a quarter of the noodles in each of four deep soup bowls, and ladle a portion of soup into each. Pile some pak choi on top. Place a soft boiled egg on top of the pak choi, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and serve