Fast & Fabulous - Asian Caramelized Pork Noodle Bowls
I've got another cracking dinner recipe for you this week and this one oozes spring time and healthy eating vibes but it always slam dunks in the flavour department. This Fast & Fabulous Asian Caramelized Pork Noodle Bowl recipe is the bomb and I have made it a number of times since I first developed the recipe a few weeks ago. It all started with me staring blandly at a packet of pork mince - as you do. I realized I seriously needed some new recipe inspiration for mince recipes. I have a set go to menu for most of our mince recipes and after using them continuously over the past year we have grown tired of the same ones. My mind seems to be only able to think of the handful that I use and forget anything else. So I started scouring some recipes online with different flavour combinations and profiles that I could use with mince instead of the standard tomato based recipes such as spag bog, shepherds pie etc. So I found a recipe for caramelized pork mince and the combination of garlic, ginger, fish sauce sounded delightful until the ingredient for copious amounts of brown sugar turned me off the recipe. It was almost like dessert for dinner the amount of sugar in it. So I fiddled with basic outline of the dish making sure I found something that still would give the sticky, slightly sweet flavour necessary for this dish. Honey was an option but I wanted a lower sugar alternative so I used rice malt syrup instead.
This gave the pork a sticky and caramelized finish which is deliciously fragrant with ginger, garlic, and fish sauce. For such a small amount of ingredients, this combination packs a flavour punch. I raided my fridge for what I could add into the bowls and came up with all the colours of the rainbow. I am totally inspired for spring and all the foods that spring bring so I thought all things salad would go down nicely in these Asian Caramelized Pork Noodle Bowls. The key to taking these bowls to the next level is about the tiny little additions. Like adding some slices of boiled egg and sprinkles of fried shallots as a finishing flourish.
The kids loved the noodle bowl idea and I find they eat more when I serve dinner like this and have the choice of how to build their bowl and chose what they want to put in it. We eat like this a fair bit through nachos, burritos, wraps and rice paper rolls and my 30 Min Ginger, Pork, Egg Rice Bowls (similar to this dish). It makes for a more relaxing meal time. All parents will know what I am talking about. Sitting down to a table full of rambunctious, whining, crying, overtired kids of a night is incredibly draining. I find I no longer enjoy meal times. Which is pretty sad because I like food and not being able to enjoy it makes me incredibly frustrated. The night's that hubby and I can digest our food in relative peace and quiet and maybe just maybe have a small conversation with each other is an amazing feat. I look forward to those nights. That is why I try and plan a meal such as this dish at least once or twice a week so that there are opportunities to enjoy a meal time together.
Asian Caramelized Pork Noodle Bowls
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 500g pork mince
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 inch piece ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp rice malt syrup
- Egg Noodles
- Boiled eggs
- Finely sliced vegetables:
- eg: Capsicum, carrot, snow peas, zucchini etc
- Fried spring onion
Instructions
In a large fry pan over a medium heat, add a drizzle of olive and add in the pork mince. Fry the mince down until brown and crispy. This could take up to 10-15 minutes.
Next, add in the ginger and garlic and saute for a further 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
Add the fish sauce and rice malt syrup to the pan and fry off for a further 2-3 minutes or until the mixture becomes fragrant and sticky. Turn the heat off.
Cook the egg noodles to the packets instructions and set aside.
AssemblyIn a bowl add a serving of the egg noodles to the base followed by a serving of the Caramelized Pork and finished off with a serving of the finely sliced vegetables, sliced egg and spring onions on top. Enjoy!
