udon noodle broth, smoked pork, slow egg, chilli oil (inspired by a.baker – canberra)

i didn’t get to eat the original dish myself.  the recommendation came from my husband. i then checked out what a.baker’s website said about the dish – the rest was up to me.

my result (photo posted) was amazing, actually incredible – heaps of flavour, super fresh, the smoked pork gives it great depth and there’s heaps of texture.  every spoonful was heaven.

don’t be put off by the ingredient list – the broth is easy, it’s a set and forget kinda broth.

the toughest bit of the recipe was trying to do 63 deg eggs on gas, but i found the right balance of “pot off the element” to not have to watch it like a hawk.  if you don’t have the patience for this, just do poached eggs!  the best thing about 63 deg eggs is the texture – but if you do poached eggs, flavour won’t be impacted.

give it a go!  recipe follows.

serves 2

for the broth (a modified masterstock)

2l water

125ml soy sauce

200ml shao xing wine

100g coconut sugar

8cm ginger, sliced

6 garlic cloves, crushed

bunch spring onions, sliced to 1 inch pieces

1tsp sesame oil

4 star anise

2 red chillis, sliced (optional – I used birds eye and added this only because I like things hot)

1 cinnamon stick, broken into 2

1 orange, peel only, remove as much pity as possible

2 tsp salt

for the pork

manuka woodchips

500g pork fillet (tenderloin)

other

store bought udon noodles

2 free range eggs

6 shallots

sugarsnap peas

fresh coriander

3 fresh red chillis (i used birds eye but that’s only because i like things ho!t)

rice bran or canola oil

method

1. for the broth, put all the broth ingredients in a pot, let it simmer for as long as it takes you to do the rest of the recipe.
2. for the eggs, if you want to do this at 63deg, it needs to cook for an hour so put these on now. for the method on a stovetop, refer to * below. if you are poaching the eggs, do this last.
3. for the pork, smoke the pork using the manuka woodchips. i smoked mine for about 10 mins. if you are new to smoking see * below for how I do it
4. for the shallots, thinly slice the shallots. heat enough rice bran or canola oil in a fry pan to shallow fry the shallots.  add the shallots to hot oil, and fry until golden brown.  remove to kitchen roll paper to dry and crisp up.  set aside ready to serve.
5. for the chilli oil, finely slice the fresh red chillies, add these to a pot with 1/2c rice bran or canola oil. Heat this on a gentle stovetop for 5-10 mins until the chilli has infused into the oil.  either remove the chilli, or leave it in depending on preference.  set aside to serve.
6. for the veges, diagonally slice the sugar snaps, chop up the coriander. set aside ready to serve.

Putting it all together

7. the rest is all about timing. when the 63 deg eggs are near finished their hour, heat the frypan to hot, season the pork and sear on both sides until caramelised, but just under medium (it will keep cooking once off the heat and in the broth). set aside to rest.
8. drain the broth and put it back on the heat. add the udon noodles until warmed through.
9. if you are poaching eggs rather than doing the 63deg eggs, cook them now and set them aside to serve.
10. serve broth and noodles in serving bowls. top with the pork, chilli oil, pork, sugar snap peas, fried shallots and coriander.
11. if using the 63deg egg, gently break the shell of the egg, peel away some of the shell. the egg should just easily slide out of the shell and you will be able to place it on top of the broth.
12. season and serve.

Enjoy! We did!

*for the 63deg egg on stovetop, place a cereal bowl at the bottom of a pot (this ensures that the egg doesnt come into contact with the direct heat of the element). fill the pot with enough water to cover the bowl AND the egg/s you will be cooking.  place a thermometer in the water and then heat the water until 63deg.  once its at this temperature, it needs to stay at this temperature (more or less) for an hour.  i played around with the positioning of the pot on the element (it was mostly off it!) to ensure that it stayed low.  its ok if it goes up and down a bit (i think mine went up to 68 at its highest, 59 at its lowest) – it should still work.