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w/ Pickled Cucumber
Serves: 4
Cooking time ~30 mins
You can make this dish within half an hour and there are so many different flavours / textures that come through. Any noodles will do but Udon work really well here. Usually you would use Sichuan peppercorns in the 'numbing oil' that you fry the noodles in, but I couldn't find any for love nor money.
Ingredients:
500g Pork Mince
8x Spring Onions
6x Garlic Cloves
Same amount Fresh Ginger
1x White Onion
1tbsp Tomato Purée
Star Anise
Sesame Seeds
2tbsp Chinese 5 Spice
2tbsp Soy Sauce
1tbsp Maple Syrup
1x Cucumber
2 tbsp Tahini
Rice Wine Vinegar
Udon Noodles to serve
Method:
Start with the Cucumber. Chop it up however you like - I prefer to scoop the middle watery mush out and then slice into thin strands. Chuck this in a bowl with a healthy amount of Sugar, Salt and a dash of Rice Wine Vinegar (White Vinegar will do). Add 4 of the Spring Onions which have been finely sliced. Toss together, cover and leave aside.
Finely dice the Onion, Garlic, remaining Spring Onions, and Ginger.
Get your Pork in a pan to fry, and as it starts to brown off, add your Onion, half of your Garlic and half of your Ginger. Add the Chinese 5 Spice here too. Fry off until you start to get a bit of colour.
In another bowl, we'll get the 'numbing sauce' on the go. Add your remaining Garlic, Ginger, Spring Onion, Tomato Puree, 1 tsp Sesame Seeds and a Star Anise. Add some Chilli Flakes here if you want the heat.
Get another pan on to heat with 4 or 5 tbsp of Vegetable Oil, wait until it's at a medium/high heat and then add those numbing sauce ingredients. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring well.
Check back on the Pork. You should have a nice amount of colour here now, so add your Soy Sauce, Maple Syrup and season to taste. Keep cooking this through until it's crispy and sticky.
Get your Udon Noodles into the numbing sauce and toss and fry them for a couple of minutes until fully incorporated.
While they're cooking, you can whip up a Tahini dressing. Add the Tahini to a bowl with a dash of Soy Sauce, Vinegar, Salt and a drop of Water and whisk until you get to a nice consistency.
Time to plate! Add a portion of the Noodles to the bowl, top with the Pork, the Cucumber and Tahini dressing.
Enjoy! If you fancy giving this a go, please tag @wellgoodgrub on Instagram.
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