Lemongrass pork noodles
Fabulous fresh flavours in a flash – and yes, we’re getting all alliterative with this yum, Thai-inspired dish. When you want your noodles quick and you want your noodles with a kick (yep, we’re rhyme-y today too), this recipe will sort you. All you do is make a simple aromatic paste for stir-frying the mince, whip up an easy sweet-sour-salty dressing, and trim the tails off sprouts. That’s right, you trim those suckers off and using kitchen scissors is the easiest way to do this. Clearly the recipe won’t fall over if you leave those annoying tails trailing all over the place, but a quick trim does make the finished plates look tidier. They’re actually much nicer to eat when they’re trimmed too so if you’ve ever been diffident about crunchy sprouts, trimming might push you over the edge into Team Sprout. The noodles don’t even need cooking; you just give them a quick soak and then wok them off with the pork. A handful of herbs (use mint instead of the Thai basil if you can’t get it) finishes things off beautifully, especially with a little sliced chilli if you’re up for some heat.
SERVES 4
2 large stalks lemongrass
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1½ tbsp chopped palm sugar
500g pork mince
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 tbsp peanut oil
175g rice vermicelli noodles
sesame oil for sprinkling
350g (3 cups) bean sprouts, trimmed
1-2 bird's eye chillies, finely sliced (optional), to serve
Thai basil leaves, to serve
coriander sprigs, to serve
lime halves, to serve
Dressing
60ml (¼ cup) fish sauce, or to taste
3 tbsp chopped palm sugar, or to taste
3 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
2 tbsp clear rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, very finely sliced
For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a bowl or jug and stir to dissolve the sugar. Taste, then adjust the sweet/salty/sour balance with more fish sauce, lime juice, or sugar. Add 1½ tbsp water, then set aside.
Chop 1½ of the lemongrass stalks, reserving the remaining half. Combine the chopped lemongrass, garlic, ginger, and palm sugar in a mortar and pestle or a small food processor, then pound or process until a coarse paste forms. Combine with the pork, then add the fish sauce and pepper and mix well. Heat the peanut oil in a wok over high heat, then when it starts smoking, add the pork mince. Spread the mince out over the surface of the wok, then let it sear for 4-5 minutes or until golden underneath. Use a spatula to turn the mince and break it up a little, then cook for another 4 minutes or until browned and the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat.
While the pork is cooking, place the noodles in a large bowl, cover with boiling water, then stand for 2 minutes to soften; alternatively, prepare according to the packet directions. Drain well, cool under running water, then drain again. Sprinkle with a little sesame oil, tossing the noodles to prevent them sticking. Divide the noodles among plates, then scatter with the pork, sprouts, chilli, and herbs. Finely chop the remaining lemongrass and scatter over. Serve drizzled with dressing and with lime halves for squeezing over.
