1.For soup base, combine ingredients and 7 litres water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer, stirring and smashing solids with a wooden spoon until stock is reduced by half and well flavoured (4 hours). Strain through a fine strainer into a bowl (discard solids). Cool stock in a bowl over a bowl of iced water, then refrigerate overnight. Heat before serving.

2.Meanwhile, while soup is cooking, add pork belly and simmer until tender and easily pierced with a knife (2-3 hours; you’ll need to remove the pork with tongs each time you smash the solids, so it doesn’t break up). Cool, then refrigerate until required.

3.For kaeshi, combine ingredients (except soy sauce) and 200ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Skim surface and add soy sauce, bring back to the boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until well flavoured (15 minutes). Remove from heat, cool, then strain through a fine sieve. Bring to the boil again before serving.

4.Cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water until cooked but still firm (2-3 minutes). Drain well.

5.To serve, slice pork into 5mm-thick slices and flame with a blowtorch or under a hot grill, if desired. Add 1½ tbsp kaeshi and a pinch of white pepper to each bowl. Add hot soup and adjust seasoning to taste. Add noodles, and top with a slice of pork, half a soft-boiled egg, nori, spring onion and seeds.

1.For black curry spice blend, dry-roast whole spices over medium heat until mustard seeds start to pop and spices darken and become fragrant (4-5 minutes). Remove from pan, add chilli powder to pan and toast, stirring continuously, over low heat until quite dark (2-3 minutes; this can cause coughing and watering eyes). Add chilli powder to other dry-roasted spices along with nutmeg and saffron, then finely grind in a blender or with a mortar and pestle (see note).

2.Preheat oven to 150C. Season brisket with salt, then rub with half the black curry spice blend. Heat a frying pan large enough to hold meat over high heat, add oil, give it a moment to heat up, then slip in the brisket. Give it a few minutes before turning and searing the other side until browned (2-3 minutes each side). Transfer to a deep baking dish that holds brisket snugly.

3.Add shallot, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, chilli and lemongrass to the same pan used to sear the brisket, and stir over high heat for a few minutes, then add remaining black curry spice blend; it looks like a lot, but it’s necessary. Stir until spices begin to stick to the pan (6-8 minutes), then add tamarind and 500ml water. Stir and bring to the boil, then pour mixture over brisket. Cover brisket with a sheet of baking paper then foil, and braise in oven until gelatinous (3-3½ hours). Rest in pan for 20-30 minutes.

4.Thickly slice brisket and serve with cooking juices poured over. (You may want to skim some of the fat off the top first, but I like to keep it.)

1.For confit octopus, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil (the water needs to be salty: 80gm salt to 4 litres water). Blanch octopus, including head, until water comes back to the boil (2-3 minutes). Transfer octopus to a bowl of iced water to cool (10 minutes). Drain and cut in half.

2.Preheat oven to 100°C. Place octopus, garlic, chilli and enough oil to cover in a deep roasting pan. Cover with a lid or foil and braise in oven until octopus is tender (2¾-3 hours). Remove from oven and cool in oil, then strain (reserve oil). Cut off head, separate tentacles and trim tentacles at thick end (reserve trimmings). Finely chop head and trimmings, then set aside. Set aside whole tentacles..

3.Heat 30ml reserved confit oil in a cast-iron frying pan over medium heat, add onion and sauté until tender (4-5 minutes), then add garlic and sauté until golden and caramelised (4-5 minutes). Remove from pan. Add reserved chopped octopus and sauté until starting to get a light crust (4-5 minutes). Cool completely. Whisk in piripiri paste, oil, lemon juice, parsley and salt to taste.

4.Preheat a woodfire or charcoal barbecue to medium high until coals are white. Brush octopus tentacles and cos with confit oil, then barbecue, turning once, until lightly charred (1-2 minutes each side). Halve cos lengthways. Place on a serving dish with tentacles, scatter parsley, onion and chilli, pour over dressing and serve.