Matt Preston is cleaning up his act.

Hold on to your broccolini – Matt Preston is detoxing, and he thinks you should, too.

HELLO, AND WELCOME to the New Year. You are another year older and, after the festive season, probably need to give your body a rest. So, with the stern eye and firm tongue of the sort of unqualified health blogger you can trust, may I introduce you to Detoxing Deliciously ™. Here now, look at my abs. Has that taken your mind off the fact I have – look again – no health or nutrition qualifications at all? What if I tell you the body is like a car and the engine needs to be cleaned out every so often to run at its best, which sounds like it makes sense, or that it needs “alkalising to fight inflammation”? Now I’m starting to sound like a proper scientist. The trouble with these claims is, according to real doctors, it’s all bunkum, and the body is actually designed to detox itself. I want you to Deliciously Detox ™ not because it works, but because I’d like to see you eating a little better. Think – if this becomes a habit, you will probably (that’s not a “may” like they use in shonky health ads, but a hard and fast “probably”) lower your cholesterol, improve your blood sugar levels and maybe even lose some weight. I know that if you eat like this for a couple of months you will become addicted to the freshness, while the siren call of chicken parmas wanes. And also everyone else is doing it and they’ll be impressed that you are on a fantasy detox train as well. Now, any penance comes with some things you promise not to do, so here’s my standard list of what you need to swear off for the next month: no coffee, no booze, no tea, no milk, no ice cream, no cigarettes, no MDMA, no Twisties (chicken or otherwise), no Maccas, no sugar, no fizzy pop (even if it looks like it’s healthy – it’s not), no processed flour, no biscuits, no condensed milk fudge, nothing white apart from daikon radishes, no pasta, no soy, no inappropriate dalliances with blokes called “Sven”, no whingeing, no endlessly telling everyone you meet about how you are detoxing, no red meat (see “no Sven”), no bread, no gluten, nothing from the supermarket that has a brand name, no potatoes as they are really just sugar in a starchy disguise, no dairy, no fun, no slothing around on the couch watching Norsemen hoping that Silje Torp’s lithe fitness will rub off on you – it won’t, also no making inappropriate remarks about 'rubbing off' – this detoxing is a serious business. Note that this list respects the scantily supported detox beliefs of some, although I’ve found that avoiding most of this stuff – apart from Norsemen – does make you feel a bit better quite quickly. Even if that’s in part due to a warm, smug glow of self-satisfaction. So, there we are – Detoxing Deliciously ™ done! See you next time. I’ll hardly recognise you!

THE SUMMER DETOX RAMEN

SERVES 4 8 cups (2L) good-quality chicken stock

3cm piece (15g) ginger, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 long green shallots, thinly sliced

12 small shiitake mushrooms, trimmed

2 (220g each) chicken breasts

1 bunch broccolini, trimmed, halved

2 tsp sesame oil, plus extra to drizzle

2 tbs tamari, plus extra to drizzle

200g brown mushrooms, trimmed, thickly sliced

4 eggs

1/4 cup (80g) white (shiro) miso paste (from Asian grocers)

2 tbs mirin

340g fresh kelp noodles (from Asian grocers), or rice noodles, rinsed well, drained

1/ 2 iceberg lettuce, cut into thin wedges

1 sheet seasoned nori, toasted, shredded Pickled ginger and sesame seeds, to serve

Place the stock, ginger, garlic, white part of the shallot and shiitake mushroom in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Add the chicken, remove from the heat and cover. Leave in the hot stock for 45 minutes or until just cooked.

Preheat a lightly greased barbecue or chargrill pan to high. Drizzle broccolini with the extra sesame oil and tamari. Barbecue, turning frequently, for 2-3 minutes until charred at the edges. Set aside and keep warm.

Place a small frypan over high heat and dry-fry the brown mushroom, tossing frequently, for 4-5 minutes until soft. Place in a bowl, drizzle over 2 tsp sesame oil and toss to combine. Set aside with the broccolini and keep warm.

Remove the chicken from the stock and place on a plate. Strain stock through a fine sieve, reserving mushrooms and discarding remaining solids. Return stock to pan over high heat, bring to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Working with 2 eggs at a time, poach in stock for 3-4 minutes until just cooked and set. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs from stock and drain on paper towel. Repeat with remaining eggs.

Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard any egg white. Wipe pan clean, return stock to pan over high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and stir in the miso, mirin and 2 tbs tamari. Taste and adjust with the tamari or mirin. Simmer gently until ready to serve.

Thinly slice the chicken breasts. Arrange the noodles, lettuce, a few slices of chicken, a poached egg and three shiitake mushrooms in each bowl then pour over hot stock. Top with grilled broccolini, sesame mushrooms, and scatter with the green ends of the shallot. Garnish as you like with toasted nori, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.