Aug 8-10 Sweet and Spicy Pork with Udon

Aug 8     Disgusting bowl of tomato soup at Tim Horton's on the 401 outside of Ottawa
Aug 9     Burger's Priest Burger and a salad a few hours later
Aug 10   Sweet and Spicy Pork Noodles with Salad with japanese style dressing






Little Shack and I spent Sunday and Monday with friends in  Ottawa , our nation's capitol, and we all had a fabulous time. The moms left the kids and the dad at the hotel on Sunday night and went out together for a really nice dinner at Play. The next morning, we all had a tasty breakfast at our hotel, ARC but other than those two meals, there was nothing worth mentioning. I was really dying for something fresh and home cooked.

Our first night home was supposed to be that delicious, home cooked meal but it kind of fell through when Shack took us to the Burger's Priest before he had to leave for work at 4pm. I have no ability to say no when someone waves a Burger's Priest burger under my nose. I am only human although we did have a yummy salad later on in the evening if that counts for anything.

Wednesday, all I could think of were those lettuce rolls with ground chicken or pork but, oddly enough, I didn't feel like the lettuce roll part so I made the meat and we ate it over udon noodles. I am planning to turn it into lettuce rolls tomorrow night so I made the full recipe even though it makes a ton of meat and could have easily fed another four people.

This was a huge hit with Little Shack. He even asked for a second bowl of just the meat and didn't care that there were no noodles left. He also kept saying "mmm, this is good beef" so, as always, take his opinion with a grain of salt.

Sweet and Spicy Pork Noodles
adapted from this recipe from Ming Tsai (makes enough pork to feed 4 to 6 but I have plans for the leftovers)

1 lb ground pork
2 tbls canola oil
1 tbls soy sauce
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 red thai chili, seeded and chopped finely (you can add more if you like it spicier )
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 onion, chopped
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup Shaoxing wine (chinese rice cooking wine)
1 cup chicken stock
handful of partially cooked green beans (I steamed them for one minute and rinsed under cold water)
1 tbls cornstarch and about 1 1/2 tbls water made into a slurry
Japanese udon noodles
1 tbls chopped roasted peanuts per serving

Bring a pot of water to the boil

Heat the canola oil in a large sauté pan over med high heat. Add the ground pork and stir fry about four minutes. At that point add the soy sauce and continue to cook for another minute, until the pork is cooked and no longer pink. Remove the pork to a shallow bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the garlic, chili, ginger and onion to the pan and stir fry that for about five minutes, until the onion is softened and it gets really fragrant. Throw in the hoisin sauce and stir that around for one minute. Now put the pork back in with the chicken stock and the green beans and bring to a boil. Let that cook down for five minutes. 


While the pork is cooking down, it's time to cook the udon noodles. I buy fresh noodles that you will find in the refrigerated section of any asian grocery store. Cook them according to the instructions and drain and set aside.


After the pork has cooked for five minutes, stir in your cornstarch slurry and stir well for about one more minute until the sauce thickens up and take off the heat.


Put a serving of cooked udon noodles in a bowl, top with ground pork and green beans with some sauce and sprinkle each bowl with a tbls of chopped peanuts.