Lots of the ramen shops I’ve visited use the “five elements” of ramen – broth, tare (sauce), aroma oil, noodles and topping – as a foundation to build upon in their own characterful way. Often these creative ramens were a kind of edible biography, be it Matsudai’s “chippy lane mazesoba” in Cardiff or the Sichuan flourishes at Maneki in Worcester.

This recipe uses pork as the basis for a riff on a kind of Anglo-Japanese breakfast. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference pork Cumberland sausages are great to turn into pork mince as they’re already loaded with seasoning and flavour, and the fatty richness is a good foil for the aromatics, sweetness and vinegar elsewhere.

Prep 10 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 2

3 tsp toasted sesame oil + extra 1 tbsp
120g Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference shiitake mushrooms
4 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference British pork Cumberland sausages
2 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference red spring onions, finely sliced with whites and greens kept separate
2 cloves Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference smoked garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp mirin
300g Sainsbury’s egg noodles
2 Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference golden yolk free range British eggs

Sausage, egg and shiitake mushroom breakfast mazesoba

Heat a large wide-based frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil and tear in the shiitake mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Remove to a plate.

Return the pan to the heat and add in another teaspoon of sesame oil. Crumble in the sausages with your hands. Cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking up the pieces into smaller crumbly chunks with a spatula.

Add in the spring onion whites, garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon of the chilli flakes and stir to combine before adding the dark soy sauce and mirin. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat.

While your sausages are cooking, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the egg noodles and cook to instructions, then remove with tongs and divide between two wide bowls.

Return the saucepan to a boil. Turn the heat down and break in the eggs, then simmer for 3 minutes, or until the whites are opaque. Lift the eggs out on to kitchen paper to absorb any excess moisture.

Mix together the remaining chilli flakes with the remaining tablespoon of sesame oil. This is your cheat’s chilli oil.

Place the poached eggs in the middle of the bowl on top of your noodles. Add the sausage to the side, then add the shiitake mushrooms and sliced spring onion greens in different sections. Serve topped with your homemade chilli oil.

Shop the full range of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference ingredients