Udon soup

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 ½ liters of water
• 1 kg carrot(s)
• 2 kg chicken wings
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 100 g ginger
• 1 leaf of kombu seaweed
• 5 shiitake mushroom(s), dried
• 6 stalks of spring onion(s)
• 100 ml soy sauce
• some parsley
• 200 g udon noodles
• 1 large egg(s), boiled for 5 minutes

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat). Cut the chicken wings in half at the joints. Peel the carrots and cut into pieces about the thickness of your thumb. Cut the spring onions into rings and the ginger into slices. You can leave some spring onions left over for serving. Put the carrots and wings in a roasting tin, add the oil, season with salt and mix well. Place the roasting tin in the oven until the wings are nice and brown. This usually takes 35-45 minutes; you’ll need to judge by eye. In the meantime, soak 5-6 shiitake mushrooms. This is easy to do in a deep plate with a little tap water. Have a large saucepan (5 l) ready. When the wings are nice and brown, remove the roasting tin from the oven and place on the stovetop over medium heat. Our stovetop has 9 settings; I use setting 7. As soon as the wings are sizzling again, add about 500 ml of water and, for example, add a little salt. Stir with a wooden spoon, for example. Scrape any crusty bits from the roasting pan and pour the entire mixture into the saucepan. Everything, including the chicken wings! Add the shiitake mushrooms, seaweed leaf, spring onions, and ginger to the pot along with 2 liters of water. Bring to a boil briefly, then simmer uncovered over low heat for 3 hours. Stir occasionally – if foam forms on the surface, skim it off with a spoon. After three hours, prepare another pot and a fine sieve. Pour the mixture from the large pot through the sieve into the other pot – in portions if necessary. Depending on how clear you want the broth, you can also filter it through kitchen towels or clean dish towels. Pick out the shiitake mushrooms from the sieve and set aside for serving. The cooked chicken wings should now have virtually no flavor. You can, of course, serve them in the broth, but you can also feed them to animals. After 3 minutes of boiling, the noodles can be poured into soup bowls. Cut the egg in half lengthwise and place one half into each bowl. Add some parsley and shiitake mushrooms and pour over the broth. I won’t go into the toppings—e.g., tofu, octopus, chicken—anything you like can be added.