I love pork and think the humble pig has had bad rap, slighted by vegetarians and various religions. Bacon was invented by a divine being, possibly the same one who invented fermenting hops, because bacon is excellent for hangovers. Pork is an excellent meat for absorbing flavours and roasts beautifully.

This recipe combines a love of pig meat and Southeast Asian flavours as well as being easy and quick. It is fresh and yummy for summer, perfect for sitting outside with a gin and tonic watching the sun go down. (A vegetarian option could be using paneer, tofu or cashews or a combination of all.)

This serves four meat eating people.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

The Salad

  • 4 loin pork chops, trimmed of fat (chicken thighs if you have pork objectors)
  • 2cm (1 inch) of ginger root, peeled and finely diced
  • 250 grams (8 oz) sugar snap peas or snow peas
  • 1 bunch or half a dozen spring onions chopped
  • About dozen fresh baby corn
  • 500 grams (1 lb) of bean shoots
  • 500 gram (1 lb) packet of rice vermicelli noodles
  • Sesame oil.

Method:

Slice or cube your pork. Put the powdered ginger, crushed garlic and soy sauce in a bowl and stir together. Add the pork and mix so the pork is well coated with the marinade, set as side.

Boil the water for the rice noodles and prepare the vegetables.

Once the water is boiled, pop in your noodles for the couple of minutes it takes them to cook, drain, rinse and mix through a dash of sesame oil to flavour the noodles and stop them sticking together.

On a low heat add a bit of sesame oil to a frying pan, add the pork, half the fresh ginger and pour in the marinade. Pork can be a trauma to cook as it can dry out, cooking it slowly tends to stop it becoming tough and the marinade means it won’t dry out too quickly but you have to watch it. Once cooked remove the meat from juices and set aside, allowing it to rest.

Increase the heat and add the vegetables and remaining ginger and stir fry to just wilting so the vegetables to retain their crunch.

To serve, layer the noodles on the bottom follow with the vegetables and meat on top. Drizzle the leftover pan juices over the meals and serve. Yum.

LPM

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