The simple three-ingredient sauce here is one of my little secrets. It’s got it all – great savoury flavour, some rounding sweetness, and you can make it as spicy as you want. The trick is to get your green beans nicely blistered in the pan and a good bit of caramelisation on your noodles. That’s what makes this dish taste like it came straight from a restaurant wok!
Serves: 2
Prep: 10 minutes. Cook: 8 minutes.
Ingredients
My Secret Spicy Asian Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 1/2 tbsp kecap manis
4 tsp sambal oelek
Noodles
250 g fresh Shanghai or hokkien noodles
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups (200 g) green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half
1⁄2 brown onion, finely diced 1 garlic clove, finely minced
2 tsp finely minced ginger (optional)
200 g pork mince
Method
Spicy Asian sauce – Mix the ingredients in a small bowl.
Cook noodles – Cook the noodles according to the packet directions. Drain, then rinse briefly
under tap water. Leave in the colander until ready to use.
Char beans – Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large cast-iron frying pan6 over high heat until it is almost smoking. Add the green beans, spreading them out in a single layer. Leave to cook for 2 minutes, stirring only every 30 seconds, until lightly charred and just cooked through. Tip the beans into a bowl and set aside.
Cook pork – Cool the frying pan for 15 seconds, then place it back over high heat.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, then cook the onion, garlic and ginger (if using) for
30 seconds. Add the pork mince and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it mostly changes from pink to white, about 1 minute. Add 1 tablespoon of the sauce and continue cooking the pork for another 1 minute until it is nicely browned.
Add the noodles, green beans and remaining sauce. Toss for 2 minutes with two wooden spoons, ensuring that the noodles get some nice caramelisation.
Serve – Divide between two bowls and devour!
NOTES
1. Reduce the sambal oelek to 1 teaspoon for barely there spicy, or increase to 6 teaspoons for very spicy!
2. This recipe will work with any medium thickness or thin noodles, dried or fresh. For fresh, use the amount as per the recipe. For dried, use 180 g and prepare as per the packet directions. You can also use two instant noodle or ramen packets, discarding the seasoning packets as we’re making our own sauce!
3. Green beans can be substituted with asparagus or broccolini, cut vertically into green bean–sized sticks.
4. Ginger is optional. It brings something extra to the dish but it’s still terrific without.
5. Pork works best here, but you can also use beef, chicken or turkey.
6. A cast-iron or other heavy-based frying pan is best here so you can get a nice char on the beans and caramelise the noodles. It makes this dish! Do not use a non-stick frying pan. High heat cooking like this will ruin the non-stick coating.
Leftovers: Fridge 3 days. Not suitable for freezing.
Dinner by Nagi Maehashi, published by Macmillan Australia, RRP $44.99, photography by Nagi Maehashi
