Chinese-Inspired Pork Noodles

This is my inspired take on Dandan noodles, a delicious Chinese Sichuan dish. The traditional recipes I looked up seemed a bit long-winded (& included ingredients I did not have) so it was time to improvise and hope for the best! The great news: it actually was the best. Like SO SO good. I tend to reach for the same handful of ingredients when making a sauce for a noodle dish and so they end up usually having the same flavor profile. But this was a new, fresh take with lots of depth; it hit every single taste bud.

Sichuan cuisine is normally on the spicier side, but I don’t love super spicy things so this is more mild. You can absolutely adjust to your liking! This recipe comes together in under 30 minutes and was the perfect mid-week dinner (and next-day lunch!). Feel free to use different veggies or sub in an alternative meat (although I personally thing the ground pork is deal because it get’s crispy thanks to it’s higher fat content). Side note: this recipe is gluten-free.

INGREDIENTS:

6-8oz rice noodles (or any other thin noodle)
~1 cup shredded cabbage
~ 1 cup chopped broccoli
~half bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 scallions, chopped

for pork:
organic ground pork
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
pinch cinnamon
pinch allspice (or cloves)
2 tsp tamari soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
1 tsp rice vinegar

sauce:
2 tbsp tamari soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
1 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp miso paste
1/2 tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated

to top: 2 tbsp chili crisp (or more)

RECIPE:

Heat up pot of water for noodles and bring to a boil. Cook ground pork in frying pan over medium heat, breaking up into small pieces, until cooked through and starting to brown. Add in spices, tamari/soy sauce, rice vinegar. Cook another few minutes, letting it crisp up a bit.

While the pork cooks, slice your veggies and set aside. Also make the sauce and set aside. Once pork is done, move to the side of the pan (or take pork out temporarily if it doesn’t fit), and add all veggies (besides scallions) to the pan. Add a splash of water and cover, to help steam/cook through, for about 5 minutes. Remove lid, and toss veggies to finish cooking (they should be al dente, so they still have a little crunch). If you removed the pork, add it back in at this point.

Cook the noodles to package directions, drain and add to pan with the sauce + scallions. Mix everything together for a couple of minutes and turn off heat as to not overcook noodles. Add desired amount of chili crisp (store bought or homemade) and toss. This ingredient really brings the dish together!