I’ve been making ramen on Sunday evenings for a while now. Sometimes the chashu comes out too dry. Sometimes the noodles are overcooked. Sometimes the dashi is just a bouillon cube. Sometimes the noodles are the sad, brittle kind from a packet — because, let’s be honest, I couldn’t be bothered. And sometimes the eggs go a little too far. In short: all the little imperfections that keep a bowl of ramen from being, well, just right.

Yet, somehow, diners have always liked my Sunday evening ramen. Every time. I used to wonder why.

I think I’ve figured it out now. What makes Sunday night ramen good isn’t really in the ingredients. It’s that it makes peace with Sunday night itself.

I don’t know how it works for you, but in my house, Sunday evening is complicated. You can sense the week creeping in. We’re tired from the weekend, caught up in its lingering emotions, and already bracing for Monday’s rollercoaster. Emotionally, it’s heavy, it’s a mess and it can get explosive.

That’s where the ramen comes in. Before it’s a dish, Sunday night ramen is a ritual. A rendezvous with the moment itself. A meditation in a bowl.

For at least ten minutes, nothing else exists. The world pauses. It feels less like soup and more like that weightless instant at the top of a swing, just before gravity pulls you back down. It feels like magic, works like magic. but it doesn’t happen by magic 😉 you still have to prepare it.

For 3 people

Toppings

• 240 g pork spareribs, boneless and skinless

• 3 eggs

Noodles

• 100 g durum wheat flour

• 150 g soft wheat flour

• 1 egg

Broth

• 1 carrot

• 1/2 leek

• 1 onion

• 1 bouquet garni (herb bundle)

• a bit of concentrated soy sauce

Optional

• a bit of katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

• a bit of miso paste

• a drizzle of toasted sesame oil

Preparation

Cut your pork ribs into two identical blocks, brush with soy sauce, and stack them with the fatty sides on the outside. Roast for 7 hours in the oven at 100 °C (convection + grill).

Depending on whether you like your “ramen eggs” well-marinated in soy sauce or not, prepare them a day in advance. Personally, I make them alongside the chashu, so they marinate for 7 hours, which I find is plenty.

Reminder: recommended cooking for ramen eggs

Puncture each end of the egg.

Boil for 5 minutes, then plunge directly into cold water.

Peel, then marinate in diluted soy sauce. Refrigerate.

For the broth (start about 3 hours in advance):

Julienne the leek and carrot, peel the onion.

Bring 1.2 L of water to a simmer. Add the onion and bouquet garni, then the carrots.

Carrots should cook 30–45 minutes, depending on whether you want them crunchy or tender.

Add the leeks about 20 minutes later, cook 20–40 minutes to your liking.

When vegetables are done to taste, remove and set aside. Strain the broth and, if you have it, add katsuobushi.

Keep the broth hot but not boiling.

Noodles (best made with a stand mixer and dough hook):

Mix the flours, add the beaten egg, and gradually incorporate about 5 cl of water until the dough comes together.

Knead about 10 minutes, then finish by hand if needed.

Rest 1 hour in the fridge.

Roll out and cut, ideally into spaghetti-sized noodles.

Recommended assembly

Place vegetables and noodles side by side in the bowl. Pour in the broth. Add sliced chashu, then the egg. Optionally, add a spoonful of miso paste at the edge of the bowl and drizzle with sesame oil