Cooking noodles should be easy — that is what we would like to pass on. Most people just want a homely bowl of noodle soup with a few greens in it. Nothing spectacular; plain, honest food. And that is the kind people remember all their lives.
There are a few things that make a bowl of noodles genuinely good, and once you have them the rest is easy. Put simply: good broth, good noodles, good toppings and good aroma. Get those and it looks, smells and tastes right, and people will be fighting over it. Making a proper broth takes time, so canned stock is the practical answer — and it is far better than a broth built on MSG alone. With stock sorted, everything else is straightforward. Today I am doing this the way we do it at home.

Ingredients: serves about 3
Thin oil noodles 300 g
Canned stock 1 tin (400 g)
Water 400 g
Meatballs with pork filling 4
Pork liver to taste
Spring onion, cut into lengths, to taste
Salt about 1 tsp
Mirin about 1 tsp
Shallot sauce to taste
Method:
1. Bring the canned stock, water and frozen meatballs to the boil. By the time it boils the meatballs are heated through. Add the spring onion, then the salt and mirin, and turn off the heat.
2. Blanch the oil noodles briefly in boiling water, drain and put them straight into the broth.
3. Slice the pork liver and poach it in the water you used for the noodles. Once cooked, lift it out and arrange on top.
4. Stir in shallot sauce to taste, so the whole bowl smells right.