How to Cook Glass Noodles with Crispy Pork

Serves: 4-6

Preparation time: 25 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients needed to make glass noodles with crispy pork:

• 1 package (6 oz) glass noodles
• ½ lb ground pork
• 1 tbsp peanuts, coarsely chopped + more for garnishing
• 3 green onions, chopped into thin round slices
• Fresh juice of a lime
• ¼ tsp dried chili flakes or 1 bird’s eye chili, seeds removed and minced
• 2 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Canola oil, as needed

Cooking instructions for glass noodles with crispy pork:

• Pour a tsp of oil in a skillet and heat it over moderately high flame.
• Throw in the ground pork and brown it for 5 minutes, stirring often while breaking it into tiny bits with a fork or wooden spoon.
• Continue to cook the crumbled meat for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the pork becomes crispy and turn golden brown; keep it aside in a bowl.
• While the pork cooks, place the noodles in a bowl and pour in hot water until they are completely immersed.
• Let the noodles rest for about 10 minutes or until they soften; drain off.
• Once you are done with the pork, add the drained noodles to a pot and fill it up with fresh water.
• Bring it to a boil and continue to cook for a couple of minutes or until the noodles are just cooked through but don’t turn mushy.
• Drain and place them under running cold water.
• Cut through the noodles, several times using a pair of kitchen scissors and transfer them to the large serving bowl.
• Add the cooked pork, along with cilantro, green onions, peanuts as well chili and toss them well together until the ingredients are distributed evenly throughout the noodles.
• Mix both the soy and fish sauce together in a small bowl and stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
• Whisk in a splash of lime juice and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• Drizzle this dressing over the pork-noodle mixture and lift the noodles with a pair of tongs, over and over again to coat it well with the blend.
• Set it aside for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Before serving, top it up with more chopped peanuts and serve as a starter or side dish.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons