Chinese Egg Noodles with Five-Spice Pork

By Margannl

If you've never gone looking for them, you might be surprised to learn that fresh Chinese egg noodles are available in the produce area of most supermarkets. Here, they're paired with ground pork, peanuts, and heady spices for a quick riff on Sichuan dan dan noodles. Serves four but can easily be halved or doubled.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup salted peanuts
• 1/4 pound bacon (3 to 4 thick slices), cut in thin strips
• 2 medium cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 2-inch piece ginger, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup canola or peanut oil
• 3/4 pound ground pork
• 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
• 3 scallions, trimmed and sliced (white and green parts kept separate)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
• 2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 3/4 pound fresh Chinese-style egg noodles

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 40mins

Preparation

Step 1

Bring a medium pot of well-salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, coarsely chop the peanuts in a food processor. Transfer to a small bowl. Put the bacon, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in the food processor and pulse to finely chop.

Heat the oil in a heavy-duty 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon mixture and cook, breaking it apart with a spoon until the bacon renders most of its fat and darkens somewhat, about 4 minutes. Raise the heat to medium high and add the pork, five-spice powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until it loses all of its raw color, about 3 minutes. Stir in the scallion whites, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and sugar. Keep warm over low heat.

Cook the noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and put in a large bowl; toss in the pork mixture. Portion among 4 bowls, sprinkle with the peanuts and scallion greens, and serve.