Tokyo shoyu is the ancestor of so many bowls: a light kombu-and-shiitake broth seasoned with soy, not the heavy tonkotsu of Hakata. Home cooks can cheat nothing about the assembly — hot bowl, taut noodles, tofu with a lacquer of soy. What you cannot fake is the kombu: pull it before a boil or the broth turns slimy.
Ingredients
- kombu1 postcard-size piece
- dried shiitake8
- soy sauce1/2 cup
- mirin3 tbsp
- ginger1 thumb
- garlic4 cloves
- scallions1 bunch
- firm tofu400 g
- ramen noodles4 portions
- nori4 sheets
- toasted sesame oil1 tsp
Method
- 1
Soak kombu and shiitake in 2 litres of cold water 30 minutes. Heat until just before a boil, pull the kombu, and simmer the mushrooms with ginger, garlic, and scallion whites 45 minutes.
- 2
Press and slice tofu. Braise in a little of the broth with soy and mirin until glazed. Chill briefly so it slices cleanly.
- 3
Season the strained broth with soy to taste — it should smell of soy, not drown in it. A drop of sesame oil at the end.
- 4
Boil noodles just shy of done. Bowl: broth, noodles, tofu, nori, scallion greens.