I think I am on a roll this month. While I haven't topped last week's chicken dish yet, this was a very close second. Completely inauthentic (especially since I used linguine and supermarket black bean paste because I was too lazy to take the bus to Chinatown), and lacking in the pickled Chinese vegetables that I did not have to hand, it tasted pretty close to the lip numbing restaurant version that I love albeit a bit more soupy. Yay me!
Do not be put off by the lengthy list of ingredients - this dish was easy to put together and I promise that you will find use for all of them again. Just continue to read this blog.
Sauce
2 Tbps almond butter
4 Tbsps soy sauce
4 Tbps Chinese black vinegar *
2 Tbsp black bean and garlic paste *
2 stalks green onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chili oil * or homemade version
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed into fragments with the blade of a knife *
Pork
1 lb best quality ground pork
1 Tbps grated ginger
2 stalks green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp black bean and garlic paste *
2 Tbps mirin * or white wine
1 Tbps chili oil * or homemade version
Final assembly
2 cups chicken stock, heated through
1 package dried egg noodles or pasta such as linguine
Leafy greens (I used baby bok choy sliced lengthwise)
(* found in the international food section most supermarkets)
First things first, put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Start heating the chicken stock over low heat.
Make the sauce. I just bunged everything together in a bowl and whisked together well until the almond butter was smoothly incorporated into the rest of the ingredients. Because this is a spicy dish, the original recipe calls for adding the oil and peppercorns a little at a time until you reach the level of heat that you like. This makes sense; my spice threshhold was in the amounts listed above. I actually could have gone higher but was cooking for others. Keep in mind that you and your guests can always add additional chili oil to the finished dish but that it is hard to make a dish less spicy. If you are serving in individual dishes, ladle 1/4 of the sauce into the bottom of each bowl that you are using. I had guests so used one huge bowl and poured the sauce in.
The pork needs a large skillet. Heat the oil over medium heat, add the ginger and the green onions, stir well. Add the pork and cook, stirring often, breaking up all clumps of meat until the pork is no longer pink. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and lower heat. As you cook your pasta and assemble the dish, stir from time to time. Once all the liquid has evaporated from the dish, turn off heat, cover and set aside.
Add your pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the directions on the package.
Bring your chicken stock to a boil. As soon as it does, add the greens and blanch until wilted. Remove greens from the stock with kitchen tongs and set aside.
Drain your pasta, place 1/4 into each of your 4 bowls or add all the pasta to the last dish holding the sauce. Pour over the chicken stock, top with the greens and pork and serve at once. I put a small dish of the chili oil on the table so that people can add more if they feel that my "kick isn't high enough".
I made this in this order but you can make the pork in advance and reheat when needed if this is more convenient to you.
Original recipe here.
(L. would like it to be known that he took the photograph above and that he has recommended that I use the pro filter on my phone for future photos. I would like it to be known that I do not approve of filters in food photography.)