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    Home » Recipes » Weeknight dinner

    Thai Noodle and Pork Stir Fry

    Published: May 27, 2010 · Modified: Jan 21, 2015 by Mike Vrobel · This post may contain affiliate links · 4 Comments

    Noodle stir fries are a quick weeknight meal in my recipe arsenal. I turn to it when I'm bored with my standard chicken stir fry with a side of white rice. The kids would be happy if we had rice every night, but I want some variety in my stir fries. I can't live on rice alone.
    *I think my kids would be willing to try living on rice alone.

    Rice vermicelli noodles are the key ingredient. They are a quick cooking replacement for the rice, and they add some needed bulk to the meal. Rice vermicelli doesn't need boiling water; the noodles soften when soaked in hot tap water for 20 minutes. Drain them, and they're ready to go in the pan with the stir fry.

    This recipe is improvised from Su-Mei Yu's rice noodle stir fry technique (Fine Cooking Feb/Mar 2006). I was thinking about Pad Thai when I started, but I was missing some key ingredients. I adapted what I had into a general Thai noodle dish. Thai flavors are a big hit with my kids; they love the "sweet" part of the hot, sour, salty, sweet balance in Thai cuisine.

    *While my kids are starting to appreciate heat in their food, I cut back on Thai heat for them. I serve some thin-sliced serrano chiles on the side with my Thai dishes, so I can add my extra heat at the table.

    **I cut back on "Thai heat" for myself, too.  Thai is one of the cuisines where "hot" is defined, as John Pinette once said, not as "oooh, my tongue is tingling", but as "AAAAAAAAAH!"

    ***My list so far consists of Thai, Indian and Chinese. Never dare a chef from those areas to make it "really hot".

    Recipe: Thai Noodle and Pork Stir Fry

    Adapted from: Su-Mei Yu's rice noodle stir fry technique from Fine Cooking [Feb/Mar 2006]

    Cook time: 6 minutes

    Ingredients:

    • 4 ounces rice vermicelli
    • hot tap water (to cover the vermicelli)

    Sauce Ingredients

    • ¼ cup soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoon fish sauce
    • 2 tablespoon sugar
    • 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • ¾ lb thin boneless pork chops
    • 2 teaspoon soy sauce
    • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
    • 2 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
    • 2 cloves of garlic, smashed
    • pinch of red pepper flakes (or 1 tsp, if you like it hot)
    • 2 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
    • ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, crushed (or leave them whole)
    • ¼ cup coarsely chopped cilantro, or basil, or a mix of the two
    • 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, sliced thin (optional)

    Directions:
    For an overview, see my Basic Technique: Stir Fry
    1. Preparation: Soak the noodles in hot tap water for 20 minutes, or until softened. Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Slice the pork chops into ¼" thick slices, and toss with the soy sauce and cornstarch; let the pork soak in the soy/corn starch until ready to cook. Smash the garlic, slice the scallions, chop the cilantro, and crush the peanuts. Set all these ingredients aside until you need them.

    Soaking the rice noodles
    Slice the pork chop thin
    Crushing the peanuts

    2. Stir fry: Heat the 2 tablespoon of peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the smashed garlic, then immediately add the pork. Stir fry the pork for 2 minutes, until it is starting to brown. Add the scallion and cook for 1 more minute. Add the sauce, and bring to a simmer. Add the noodles, and toss until the noodles have evenly absorbed the sauce.

    Brown the pork
    Sauce to a simmer
    Noodles tossed with sauce

    3. Top and serve: Remove the pork and noodles to a serving bowl. Top with the peanuts, cilantro, basil and serrano chile. Or, put the noodles in individual serving bowls before topping with the nuts and spices.

    Variations:
    *Chinese style: In the sauce, replace the fish sauce with 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, and the lime juice with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce. Top with thin sliced scallion in place of the cilantro and basil.

    *More vegetables: I like to add thinly sliced onions and bell peppers to this dish. After cooking the pork, remove it to a plate with a slotted spoon, then stir-fry the vegetables until browned and just softening. Add the pork back to the pan, and continue with the recipe.

    *Side dish: If you want a vegetarian side dish instead of a one-pot meal, skip the pork. Or, replace it with the "more vegetables" option above.

    Notes:
    *Organization is the key to stir frying. I have less steps in this recipe than I usually do, because everything needs to be prepped before the stir fry starts. Once it starts, things move quickly, and the recipe comes together in five to ten minutes. Make sure you have your mise en place* before you start.

    *French kitchen slang, defined by cooks as having everything in place for cooking. According to Tony Bourdain, this is usually shortened to "meez" in professional kitchens, as used in this sentence: "Get your *&#$@#$ing meez done, here comes the dinner rush."

    *This is a good stir fry for a beginner - knife skills are less important than they are in most stir fries. If you buy "stir fry pork", pre-sliced from your local grocery store, you only have to cut up the scallion, herbs and hot pepper.

    What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

    Related Posts:
    Basic Technique: Stir Fry
    Chicken with Peppers and Onions Stir Fry recipe
    Bok Choy Stir Fry recipe

    Adapted from:
    Su-Mei Yu's rice noodle stir fry technique from Fine Cooking [Feb/Mar 2006].

    Su-Mei Yu The Elements of Life

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    Comments

    1. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      May 28, 2010 at 12:38 pm

      @Rice Palette

      Thanks!

      Reply
    2. Rice Palette says

      May 28, 2010 at 3:06 am

      No problem! 🙂

      I once made a similar dish, but I used the thicker rice noodles (instead of vermicelli).. I find that with rice noodles, they are more sturdier for the stir-fry. I also added more vegetables to add more color, such as green and red bell peppers, and onions! But this was your "other" variation 🙂

      Also, instead of pork chops, I used pork "butt"

      Reply
    3. MikeV @ DadCooksDinner says

      May 28, 2010 at 2:36 am

      @Rice palette:

      Thank you. I'm curious - what would you do different with the Chinese variation?

      Reply
    4. Rice Palette says

      May 27, 2010 at 9:58 pm

      Very detailed steps, I like how you take us through all the stages step-by-step! The "Chinese style" I may have had a slightly different variation to it, but I'd like to try the Thai style!

      Reply

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