Tonkatsu on a bed of glossy Japanese curry sauce and steamed rice. The S&B curry roux is non-negotiable.

Clear, amber broth — chicken and dashi base with a shoyu tare made from three soy sauces. The working person's ramen. Doable in 4 hours.

Sichuan mapo tofu: silken tofu in a fiery, numbing sauce of doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns. Finished with a cloud of ground pork.

18-hour pork bone broth. Creamy, rich, cloudy white. This is a weekend project, not a weeknight dinner. Worth every hour.

Crispy bottom, steamed top, juicy inside. The potsticker technique makes them perfect every time.

Replace tofu with shrimp, coconut aminos with fish sauce. Classic. The vegan version is good; this version is the one people order at restaurants.

A teaspoon of yuzu juice in each bowl transforms the whole thing. Bright, citrusy, complex. Tokyo ramen shops do this in winter.

Whisk 1.5 tsp ceremonial matcha into the yolk mixture. The green custard under amber sugar is striking.

Deep-fry the onions instead of caramelizing. Totally different texture — shatteringly crispy rather than jammy. Both are correct.

Gochujang and sesame in the rub, kimchi slaw instead of coleslaw. The same smoking technique with a Korean BBQ finish.

Indian chaat masala replaces za'atar. Tamarind chutney and mint instead of tahini. Completely different but equally correct.

Same flavor profile, different format. The risotto amplifies the pepper and the starch helps create an even silkier sauce.

Gochujang and soy sauce glaze replaces BBQ sauce in the final phase. Serve with pickled daikon and steamed rice.

Minced shrimp filling with ginger and chives. Pan-fried and steamed the same way. More delicate than pork, quicker to cook.

Wet-cure the flat for 7 days in a coriander-pepper-sugar brine, then smoke. The best of both worlds.

For those who think the original isn't spicy enough. Green chilies in the tempering plus extra kashmiri chili. Not for the faint-hearted.

2-hour version using chicken backs instead of pork trotters. Still rich, still real. For when you can't do the full 18-hour odyssey.

Same from-scratch paste, chicken thighs instead of tofu. Fish sauce instead of soy. The most ordered Thai dish in the UK for a reason.

Swapped the espresso for ceremonial matcha and added a pinch of salt to the cream. Cleaner, greener, completely addictive.