Kumamoto Ramen

Method

1. Put 3 g of dried wood ear mushrooms in a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 20 minutes, then drain, trim off any hard stems and shred. Rinse 250 g of pork bones and 1 chicken wing under cold water, put them in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil hard for 5 minutes. Drain, then rinse each bone under the tap to remove every trace of grey scum and scrub the pot clean — this is what keeps the broth white.
2. Return the bones and wing to the pot with 1.2 l of water and 2 slices of ginger. Bring to a full rolling boil and keep it there, uncovered, for 3 hours, topping up with boiling water to hold the level and stirring now and then so nothing catches. The liquid should turn opaque and creamy as the collagen and marrow emulsify.
3. After 2 hours of boiling, lower the 80 g piece of pork belly into the pot with 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sake and 1 tsp of mirin and let it cook in the broth for the final hour, until a skewer slides through the fat with no resistance. Lift it out, rest 10 minutes, then slice into thin rounds and set aside. Strain the broth through a fine sieve, pressing the bones to squeeze out the last of the marrow — you should have about 350 ml.
4. Make the mayu: crush 2 garlic cloves and fry them in 1 tbsp of toasted sesame oil in a small pan over low heat for 8-10 minutes, until the garlic is genuinely black and smells bittersweet but not acrid. Mash the garlic into the oil with a spoon and set the black oil aside. Wipe the pan, add 1 tsp of vegetable oil and fry 2 garlic cloves, sliced paper thin, over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes until pale gold, then lift straight onto kitchen paper — they colour further off the heat.