Chilled Carbonara Somen & Nameko Mushroom Consommé Soup

Cut 80g of slab bacon into thick batons. Chunky, thick pieces taste best for texture.

Put the bacon in a frying pan and cook it in its own fat without adding oil until crisp. Move it around occasionally to brown it all over. Once done, turn off the heat and leave it as is.

Make the sauce while the bacon cooks. Crack the eggs, transfer the whites to a bowl and keep only the yolks. Save the whites for the soup.

Add 30g of mayonnaise to the egg yolks. Use Pure Select mayonnaise, which is low in acidity.

Add 2/3 teaspoon salt, 12 shakes of umami seasoning, plenty of coarsely ground black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of grated cheese, then mix well to make the carbonara sauce. Once combined, chill it thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Bring 600cc of water to a boil in a pot. Once boiling, add the consommé.

Break up the reserved egg whites with chopsticks in a cutting motion, then pour them in a little at a time while stirring the pot to create a swirl. They turn into fluffy egg whites. Next add 2 packs of nameko mushrooms.

Add olive oil for aroma, then 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and more consommé to bring the total to 2 1/2 teaspoons. Add 7 shakes of black pepper and, if you like, 8 shakes of garlic powder to finish the soup.

Bring a generous amount of water to a boil in a separate pot. Prepare ice water in a large bowl with plenty of water and ice.

Add the somen once the water is at a full rolling boil and cook for 45 seconds. Water that isn't boiling makes the noodles taste bad, so always bring it to a full boil.

As soon as they're done, rinse them well in cold water to wash off the sliminess, then soak them in ice water for 1 minute so the water penetrates the firmed-up noodles. Then press them against a colander and squeeze out the water thoroughly.

Add the squeezed somen to the chilled carbonara sauce and toss thoroughly, just as you would with thin pasta. Pile it high in a bowl, top with the cooked bacon, and finish with plenty of freshly grated cheese and black pepper on top.