Spicy Pork Ramen with Soft-Boiled Egg and Bamboo Shoots

1. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Lower in the eggs and boil for 6½ minutes for a jammy yolk (or 9 minutes for firm). Lift into a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, then peel and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, pat the pork dry. Heat the oil in a frying pan with a lid over a medium-high heat and sear the pork for 4 minutes, turning, until browned all over. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes more, turning once, until cooked through, with no pink in the middle; it should reach 75C/167F in the thickest part, or 70C/158F held for 2 minutes. Rest it on a board for 3 minutes, then slice.
3. While the pork cooks, put the stock, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sriracha in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the pak choi and bamboo shoots and simmer for 3 minutes, until the pak choi stems are just tender. Take off the heat, then whisk the miso with a ladle of the hot broth in a cup and stir it back in with the sesame oil. Do not boil after adding the miso.
4. Cook the noodles in a separate pan of boiling water according to the packet, usually 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well.
5. Divide the noodles between 2 deep bowls. Ladle over the broth and vegetables, then top with the sliced pork, the halved eggs, spring onions and chilli threads or flakes, if using.
6. In the UK, runny yolks are considered safe for pregnant women, young children and older people only with British Lion eggs; elsewhere, use pasteurised eggs or boil for 9 minutes. Store leftover broth and pork separately from the noodles in the fridge for up to 2 days, and reheat until piping hot.

A bowl has about 47g of protein and 558 calories, including the noodles, egg and vegetables. Pork tenderloin is one of the leanest cuts of pork, with about 3 to 4g of fat per 100g raw, so most of the protein comes with very little fat.

How it differs from restaurant ramen. Ramen shops usually serve a rich pork bone or chicken broth with fatty braised pork belly (chashu) and a large portion of noodles. This version uses low-salt stock, lean pork, a moderate 60g of noodles each and plenty of vegetables.

The broth. Miso adds savoury depth, and fresh ginger and garlic add warmth. Miso is stirred in off the heat, as boiling it dulls the flavour.

Salt. Ramen is one of the saltier meals you can eat, because stock, miso and soy sauce all add sodium. Using low-salt stock and reduced-salt soy sauce helps, and leaving some of the broth in the bowl cuts the salt further.

Not gluten-free, as ramen noodles and soy sauce contain wheat. Not tagged for blood sugar, because the noodles bring most of the 52g of carbohydrate. For another noodle soup, try the miso, tofu and edamame soup with buckwheat noodles, or for a lighter bowl, the chicken and vegetable soup.