Beijing Noodles with Fried Pork and Soybean Sauce

What you need

• 300 g (10 oz) pork belly, skin removed, cut into 1 cm cubes
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cm fresh ginger, minced
• 4 scallions, whites minced, greens thinly sliced
• 2 star anise
• 3 tbsp yellow soybean paste
• 4 tbsp sweet bean sauce
• 200 ml (3/4 cup) water
• 400 g (14 oz) fresh wheat noodles
• 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
• 120 g (4 oz) daikon, cut into matchsticks
• 100 g (3 1/2 oz) bean sprouts

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Stir the soybean paste and sweet bean sauce with 2 tbsp of the water until smooth.

2. 2

   Sort the pork into fatty and lean cubes if you can.

3. 3

   Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Fry the fatty cubes, stirring, until the fat runs out and they turn golden, 4-5 min.

4. 4

   Add the lean cubes, ginger, scallion whites and star anise. Stir-fry until the pork is no longer pink, 3 min.

5. 5

   Add a third of the sauce. Stir until it bubbles and darkens, 1-2 min. Repeat twice with the rest of the sauce, so it fries rather than boils.

6. 6

   Pour in the remaining water in 2-3 additions, stirring after each. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 min, stirring now and then.

7. 7

   The sauce is ready when it is thick and glossy, with oil on the surface and the pork cooked through. Stir in the scallion greens and remove the star anise.

8. 8

   Blanch the bean sprouts in boiling water for 30 seconds, then drain.

9. 9

   Boil the noodles as the packet directs, usually 3-4 min. Drain and rinse briefly under cold water.

10. 10

    Divide the noodles among four bowls. Spoon the sauce on top and arrange the cucumber, daikon and bean sprouts around it.

11. 11

    Toss everything together at the table and eat right away.

Imported from asiancookingmom.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.