Chicken Nyumen

Set up two pots. In one, combine dashi kombu, water, sake, and light soy sauce — leave it cold for now. The other should be ready for boiling water.

Pat the chicken thigh dry with paper towels and butterfly to even out the thickness. Trim away excess fat.

Quickly blanch the chicken thigh in the boiling water just until the surface turns white, then remove before the umami leaches out.

Add the blanched chicken to the cold-water broth pot and turn on the heat. Just before it boils, lower to a simmer and cook 20 minutes, skimming off scum. If the chicken floats, weigh it down with the kombu.

After 20 minutes, remove the chicken and kombu. Once cool enough to handle, halve the chicken: slice half for snacks and cut the other half into bite-sized pieces for the noodles.

Make a quick yuzu miso sauce by combining white miso, yuzu ponzu, and yuzu kosho. Spoon it onto the sliced chicken and top with thin scallions.

Cook the somen briefly — about 30 seconds, very firm. Drain, rinse well to remove starch, and squeeze out the moisture.

Reheat the chicken broth, add the drained somen, and warm to your preferred firmness. Plate, top with the bite-sized chicken, drizzle with sesame oil, and finish with black pepper and plenty of thin scallions.