Ramen Orecchiette

***RECIPE, SERVES 4***

• 2 cups (300g) flour, ideally bread flour (THIS IS A ROUGH ESTIMATE)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3-5 carrots
• 1/2-1 cups frozen peas
• 1-2 oz (30-60g) cheap dried mushrooms
• 1 stick of lemon grass
• 1 bunch green onions
• 1 lime
• 1 small hand of fresh ginger
• 1 fresh red chili
• toasted sesame oil
• soy sauce
• rice vinegar (or any mild vinegar)
• sugar
• fresh cilantro for garnish

1. Put the baking soda in a small pan over high heat and shake it around frequently. It'll start to look a little wet, then after a couple minutes it will get very dry and powdery. You have now converted baking soda into washing soda, which will get you a higher pH. Dissolve the washing soda in half a cup (118mL) of water, then knead in as much flour as the dough will take. Cover and let rest at least 15 minutes.
2. Get a soup pot and roughly snip in the lemongrass in big chunks. Do likewise with the ginger (no need to peel). Snip in the fibrous green tops of the onions. Peel off a few chunks of zest from the lime and put those in, along with the dried mushrooms. Pour in about 2 quarts/liters of water, bring to a boil, reduce to a spirited simmer and let cook at least half an hour.
3. Cut the carrots, onions and chilies into thin rounds on the bias, and cut the lime into wedges.
4. Put the rested dough on a large, clean countertop and roll it out into a snake as thin as possible (you could cut it in half if you have a smaller counter). Cut the snake into thin little ovoids of noodle dough with your knife, and lightly dust them in flour so they don't stick to each other.
5. When the broth is finished, strain out the solids and discard them. Add a little vinegar, sugar and lots of soy sauce to taste — get the broth tasting a little too salty on its own. Put in the carrots and boil until starting to go soft, about 5 minutes. Put in the onion and chili slices and boil a few minutes. When the vegetables seem almost tender, stir in the noodles, taking care to not let them stick to each other.
6. Boil the noodles 1-2 minutes. The pot fill foam up — don't panic. Turn off the heat, stir in a few drops of sesame oil to taste, along with the peas, straight from the freezer. As the soup rapidly cools to eating temperature, the foam should vanish.
7. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro and lime wedges for squeezing.