At its simplest, ramen is the balance of five elements: broth, tare (secret seasoning sauce), noodles, fat and toppings. If you understand that, this seemingly cryptic and complex corner of Japanese food culture opens right up. The first four take time, but if you pick up a shop-bought stock and some decent noodles, I won’t tell anyone. But the toppings are where the real payoff is: the fastest way to turn a midweek nothing into something worth showing off.

A universal note
Spring onions should be used to top every bowl (finely diced white onion will work as a backup). Where there’s a broth, aim for 300ml, and where dashi is mentioned, instant is fine – unless you’re vegan, in which case steep 20g each of kombu and dried shiitake in one litre of cold water overnight, and keep the mushrooms for the soboro. Noodle portions are 130g unless stated otherwise, and any specialist items should be available online or at your local Asian supermarket.

None of these toppings belong to one bowl, so swap them about – and they’re all good beyond ramen: chashu in a cheese toastie, say, soboro on rice, or ajitama in a caesar salad. The tares are multiuse, too: the tantanmen tare is great in scrambled eggs; the miso tare on corn on the cob, and the shio tare will improve pretty much anything.

Tokyo shoyu

Ramen’s platonic ideal, and one piece of pork gives you the topping, tare and fat.

Broth 50:50 chicken stock and dashi
Tare 3-4 tbsp chashu braising liquid
Fat 1 tbsp, skimmed from chilled braising liquid
Noodles medium classic
Toppings pork belly chashu, shop-bought menma (seasoned bamboo), ajitama

For the chashu (serves 6-8)
Roll and tie 500g pork belly and brown it all over in a pan. Deglaze the pan with 150ml sake, add 300ml each of shoyu, mirin and water, 30g demerara sugar, six sliced garlic cloves and a sliced 4cm piece of ginger, and simmer gently, turning, for two hours,. Cool in the liquid to room temperature, then chill overnight. Cut into 1cm-thick slices and torch or pan-fry to serve.

Tantanmen

Sichuan dan dan noodles, but make it ramen. Sesame, spice, and a soboro that works like a ragu.

Broth 50:50 kombu-shiitake dashi and unsweetened soy milk
Tare 2 tbsp tahini, 1½ tbsp shoyu, 2 tsp black vinegar, 1 tsp sugar, a pinch each of MSG and ground Sichuan pepper
Fat 1 tbsp rayu chilli oil
Noodles medium classic
Toppings spicy mince soboro, pak choi

Spicy mince soboro (serves 6-7)
Soften a small diced onion and 2cm piece grated ginger in oil for five minutes. Add five grated garlic cloves followed by 500g fatty pork mince – although any mince works, but vegan mince will need more water - and fry until it’s in grains, not lumps. Add three tablespoons of doubanjiang (chilli bean sauce), one and a half tablespoons each of shoyu and mirin, plus a splash of water. Cook for 15 minutes until glossy.

Hakata tonkotsu

Japan’s most famous ramen export. Thin, straight noodles in a creamy pork bone broth, eaten fast by design.

Broth tonkotsu
Tare 30ml shio (30g salt, 10g sugar and 10g MSG dissolved in 70ml sake, 20ml mirin and 110ml water – makes 230ml/about 7 bowls)
Fat 1 tsp sesame oil
Noodles thin, straight
Toppings ajitama, pork belly chashu, shop-bought kikurage (wood-ear fungus), beni-shoga

Ajitama (serves 6)
Warm 100ml water, dissolve 10g brown sugar in it, then add 100ml each shoyu and mirin and chill. Pierce six fridge-cold large eggs at the wide end and boil for seven minutes, stirring for the first 30 seconds to centre the yolks. Plunge into iced water, peel, and submerge in the cold marinade for 12-72 hours.

Chippy Lane mazesoba

A late-night Cardiff cult classic – chicken, curry sauce and chips – our version of nagoya mazesoba. Sauce in the bowl, hot noodles on top, toss hard.

Broth none – rules are meant for breaking
Tare 100ml shop-bought Japanese curry roux, made thick and salty
Fat 1 tbsp each butter and chicken fat (from the thighs)
Noodles thick (200g)
Toppings shio koji chicken, crispy onions, beni-shoga, and grated cheese, if you’re feeling cheeky

Shio koji chicken thighs (serves 4-5)
Coat 500g skinless and boneless chicken thighs in 50g shio koji, 20g mirin, half a tablespoon of shoyu and one teaspoon each of grated ginger and garlic. Leave up to three hours. Add 100ml water, cover and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes. Uncover and reduce until it crisps. Shred the meat and toss through the glaze.

Sapporo yasai miso

Usually built on pork broth and lard for Hokkaido winters, this version is plant-based, but stands up.

Broth kombu-shiitake dashi
Tare 60g a bowl – 100g each white and red miso with 2 tbsp sake, 1 tbsp each mirin and shoyu, 1 tsp each grated raw garlic and ginger
Fat 2 tbsp vegetable oil, fried with grated garlic and ginger
Noodles thick, wavy, yellow
Toppings stir-fried cabbage and beansprouts, sweetcorn, toasted sesame seeds, and butter, if you’re not vegan

Stir-fried cabbage and beansprouts (serves 4)
Get a wok very hot with a little neutral oil. Add 200g shredded cabbage and 150g beansprouts, and toss hard for two minutes – you want char, not steam. Season with a tablespoon of shoyu, a teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch each of salt, sugar and shichimi togarashi.

• James Chant is the owner of Matsudai Ramen in Cardiff. Watch him make ramen in Feed with Jimi Famurewa