Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°FPat chicken dry and liberally season on both sides with salt and pepper.Heat a cast iron skillet until smoking hot and add the oil and place the chicken skin side down. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the skin has crisped up and has let go of the pan. Flip and cook for another 3-5 minutes to brown the underside.Lift each piece and place a sliver of butter underneath and place the skillet into the oven for 15-20 minutes to finish cooking.Once cooked, slice just off to the side of the bone, remove the bone and cut each half into slices. *Use the reserved fats and oil rendered in the pan as an optional aroma oil to drizzle over your completed bowl. If desired, use it to quick fry herbs and spices (such as garlic or chives)*

Step 2

In a medium pot add the sesame oil along with the garlic and ginger. Fry until fragrant.Add broth and bring to a rolling boil before covering and turning the heat off.

Step 3

In a bowl combine the soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add your tare to the broth and stir to combine. *If opting for a more traditional route, reserve the tare for the assembly step.*

Step 4

Eggs: Bring a pot of water to boil. Once boiling, place room temperature eggs into the water and boil for 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, remove and place the eggs into an ice bath to stop the cooking. This will give a soft boiled egg with a creamy (not runny!) center.Mushrooms: Place mushrooms into the still hot broth and allow them to simmer for a few minutes. Bok choy: Place bok choy into the still hot broth and allow them to simmer for a few minutes until wilted. If using whole bok choy, separate the white stem from the green leafy section and slice the whites into strips. When plating, place the whites first and the leafy greens on top. Carrots: Use a vegetable peeler to cut your carrots into ribbon strips. Chives: finely chop chives into thin rings

Step 5

Boil noodles according to package directions in plain, unsalted water. Drain and set aside.

Step 6

*If you reserved the tare: place a spoonful of tare into the bottom of a bowl.*Ladle your broth into your bowl.Add the cooked and drained noodles to the center in a pile and surround the noodles with toppings of your choice including your sliced chicken, bok choy, mushrooms, carrots, soft boiled egg, chives, pickled ginger, sesame seeds etc. If using nori, tuck it to the side of your bowl so that it sticks up over the top of the rim or you can shred it into thin slivers.If desired, drizzle chili oil, sesame oil, or reserved chicken fat* over the top. Serve immediately.