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You are probably thinking another Chinese recipe? Weren’t you just in Iceland, Ireland and Scotland? Where is the Icelandic leg of lamb, Irish lamb stew or champ recipes? Where is your tasting notes from all the whiskeys you enjoyed? Well, there will be more posts from our trip and I got a lot of inspiration, I feel so filled with inspiration actually I can’t stop smiling. I didn’t realize how much we needed a vacation and am so thankful for it! Yet, after a week of eating delicious Ulster fries and champ, I was craving some spicy food when we arrived back to Queens. Reading No Recipes Beef Rendang Recipe post, didn’t help either, it looks so good! I can’t wait to try it with stew meat from one of our bulls.
Dan Dan Noodles were one of my favorites but unfortunately Chinese take out is now off limits because I am avoiding gluten. This didn’t stop me from creating a gluten free version that was a show stopper, it is easy and packs a full flavor punch. I used our pastured pork, and while it was frying up it smelled like slow roasted pork, that is how much flavor our pork has! Ground pork has become one of my favorite quick meal secrets, I defrost it in a water bath for about an hour and use it in meat sauces, burgers and meat balls. Quick and because it is ground pork it is a welcome change from our weekly grassfed beef burgers. I am a big fan of Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Organic Pasta and used the spaghetti type here, you can also use pad thai rice noodles and Trader Joes is carrying a corn pasta which has great texture and works well in Asian stir fries.
Dan Dan Noodles with Pastured Pork
Inspired by Martin Yan’s (Vegetarian) Dan Dan Noodles
For the sauce:
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons sesame paste or tahinni paste
- 2 tablespoons black rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 3 teaspoons sugar*
- 3 teaspoons dried red chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
- 3/4 cups chicken stock
- sea salt to taste
More ingredients:
- 8 -16 ounces of gluten free spaghetti**
- 3/4 pounds ground pastured pork
- olive oil to saute pork
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1-1 inch piece of fresh ginger minced
- 3 green onions or scallions, white and green parts separated
- 1 tablespoons roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- cilantro for garnish
Preparation:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. And cook pasta by directions on box.
- In a 10-12 inch skillet add olive oil, heat on medium high heat, brown pork, add garlic and ginger cook until browned then add white part of scallions (reserving the green for serving).
- Meanwhile, incorporate the sauce ingredients listed above, use whisk to fully incorporate. Add to the cooked pork, bring to a simmer.
- To assemble pasta, place the cooked pasta in a serving bowl or plate and top with pork sauce and garnish with scallion greens, chopped peanuts and cilantro garnish.
- Enjoy!
* I used a low sugar peanut butter, if you are using a sweet peanut butter you might not need as much sugar.
** I used 8 ounces but you can surely double the amount or use a 12 once package. The sauce is so tasty it is great with a lot of pasta or less.
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April 22, 2012 Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. Posted in: Chinese, Pork, Recipes Tagged as: chinese food, dan dan noodles, gluten free, ground pork, pastured pork
