HIYASHI CHUKA RAMEN

Steps:

• For the charshu: Bring the soy sauce, mirin, ginger and garlic to a simmer in a large saucepan. Add the pork belly and let simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Refrigerate in its liquid until firm, about 1 hour, then slice into 2-centimeter pieces.
• For the sauce: Put the soy sauce, pork stock, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, green onions and 1 1/2 cups water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Let simmer over medium heat until the green onion stalks are tender. Strain the sauce into a bowl and add the sesame paste to the sauce. Stir well with a whisk. Put the sauce in the fridge and chill until serving.
• For the toppings: Combine the vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Marinate the bean sprouts in the solution until serving. Keep it in the fridge if preferred.
• Bring water to a boil in a medium pan. Trim off the ends of the asparagus, then cut them in half or about 3 inches long. Put them in the boiling water, then cook them until just crisp-tender, 2 1/2 minutes for thin spears and 3 to 4 minutes if thicker. Plunge them into ice water. Dry them off with paper towels and put them aside. Keep them in the fridge if preferred.
• Cut the cucumber in half, about 3 inches long, then cut them in half vertically. Slice them into sticks, trying to match the asparagus size.
• Grease a medium pan, preferably nonstick, and heat it over medium heat. Place the eggs in a small bowl and whisk until well mixed. Once the pan is heated, bring the heat down to medium-low. Pour about 1/4 cup egg mixture into the pan (like a crepe). Once the egg sheet is cooked (no need to brown it or anything, just golden is good), flip that on a cutting board. Grease the pan and repeat the process. Flip the second onto the first sheet on the cutting board. Repeat the process and make as many sheets with the egg mixture as you can. Cut the egg sheets in half, then layer them on top of each other and cut them into strips. Match them to the asparagus size.
• Bring water to a boil in a large pot (or medium pot if you're cooking 4 packs of noodles individually). Add the noodles to boiling water and stir well with tongs or chopsticks to prevent sticking. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2 minutes or according to the instructions. Strain the noodles and plunge them into ice water or put the strainer under cold running water and rinse off the starchiness until the noodles aren't warm anymore. (You can use your hands to wash off the starchiness!) Shake the water off the noodles really well.
• Add 1 portion ramen noodles to a serving bowl with 5 ounces sauce. Add topping ingredients to your liking and add pickled ginger, if using.