Duck ramen with tea-stained eggs

• ½ cup soya sauce, plus 2 t
• 5 teabags
• 4 free-range eggs, hard-boiled
• 4 cups beef stock
• 2 t fish sauce
• 2 t miso paste
• ¼ cup hoisin sauce
• 2 T mirin (optional)
• 2 T oyster sauce
• 2 Woolworths free-range duck breasts
• 120 g shiitake mushrooms
• 200 g Woolworths Asian medium wholewheat noodles, cooked according to package instructions
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 50 g baby spinach, blanched
• Bamboo shoots, to garnish

1. To make tea-stained eggs, bring ½ cup soya sauce and the teabags to a boil in a saucepan. Crack the hard-boiled eggs using the back of a teaspoon, but don’t remove the shells. Place the eggs into the boiling soya and tea and turn off the heat.
2. Allow the eggs to cool in the liquid for 10 minutes, then carefully peel.
3. To make the ramen broth, bring the beef stock, remaining soya sauce, fish sauce and miso paste to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5–10 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, mirin and oyster sauce. Generously glaze the duck breasts with this mixture.
5. Pan-fry the duck breasts skin-side down for 2 minutes, then turn and cook for a further 2 minutes, basting continually with the glaze. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes, then slice thickly.
6. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium to high heat and fry the mushrooms until golden. To serve, divide the noodles between bowls and add the spring onions, baby spinach, duck and mushrooms. Pour over the hot ramen broth and add a tea-stained egg.

Trivia alert: Ramen is in fact the Japanese pronunciation of the word “lamien”, meaning “Chinese noodles”. Japan has Chinese immigrants to thank for bringing this meat or fish-based broth containing wheat noodles to their attention 100 years ago. It evolved from street food to national dish before going global. This version has been given a Vietnamese twist with the addition of tea-stained eggs.

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