Chanpon Nagasaki Chinese-Japanese Noodle History

Ingredients

• For the broth
• 1 kg pork bones, blanched and rinsed
• 500 g chicken bones, blanched and rinsed
• 2 litres water
• 30 g lard
• 150 g pork, thinly sliced
• 100 g shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 100 g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
• 100 g clams, scrubbed
• 80 g kamaboko, sliced
• 150 g cabbage, roughly chopped
• 100 g bean sprouts
• 80 g carrot, julienned
• 80 g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp salt, to season, adjusted to taste
• 400 g fresh chanpon noodles, thick round wheat noodles; thick fresh udon-adjacent noodles if unavailable

Method

1. 1
   Place the blanched pork and chicken bones in a large pot with 2 litres of cold water. Bring slowly to a gentle simmer and maintain that simmer — never a rolling boil — for 2 to 3 hours, skimming periodically. The broth is ready when it is milky white, lightly viscous from collagen, and carries a sweet, rounded bone aroma with no harsh bitterness.
2. 2
   Heat the lard in a wide, heavy pot or wok over high heat until it shimmers and the first wisps of smoke appear. Add the sliced pork and stir-fry until the edges lose their raw colour and the fat begins to render, producing a clean, savoury smell. Add the shrimp, squid, and clams in sequence, stirring constantly; the clams signal readiness when they begin to open.
3. 3
   Add the carrot, mushrooms, cabbage, and bean sprouts to the pot in that order, each addition stir-fried briefly so the vegetables soften at the edges while retaining structural resistance when pressed. The vegetables must not be cooked through at this stage; they will finish in the broth.
4. 4
   Pour the hot bone broth over the stir-fried ingredients, bring the combined liquid to a steady simmer, and season with salt. Taste: the broth must be fully unified — mild, creamy, and saline enough to carry the seafood and vegetable flavours without any single element dominating. This is where the dish lives or dies: an under-seasoned broth at this point cannot be rescued once the noodles are added.
5. 5
   Add the fresh chanpon noodles directly to the simmering broth — not to a separate pot of water. Stir gently to prevent clumping. The noodles will absorb stock and release starch as they cook, thickening the broth to its characteristic creamy, integrated consistency. The noodles are done when they are cooked through but retain a faint resistance at the centre; the broth around them will have visibly thickened and turned opaque.
6. 6
   Add the kamaboko slices in the final minute of cooking, allowing them to warm through without losing their shape. Ladle into deep bowls, distributing noodles, proteins, and vegetables evenly, with broth poured over to the rim.