Pork Belly Cucumber Noodles

This is a Sichuan inspired dish, usually served cold! It’s really refreshing for the summer but I find that it makes the perfect quick and easy lunch/dinner for a weekday. It’s really just 20 mins of active cooking time.

Serves 3-4

Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

• For the Pork:

  • 1 lb pork belly (skin on or off)

  • 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine

  • 1 tbsp sichuan pepper corns

  • 2 scallions

  • 6 slices of ginger

  • 2 star anise

  • 6 cups of water

• For the Sauce

  • 1 tsp grated ginger

  • 1 finely chopped scallion

  • 6-7 cloves of grated garlic

  • 1.5 tbsp red chili flakes

  • 1 tsp five spice powder

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • Pinch of salt & black pepper

  • ~1/4 cup of boiling hot oil (just enough to make a thick slurry, no more)

  • 1 tbsp soy sauce and black vinegar each

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• Handful of sesame seeds

• 1 cucumber

• Noodles of choice

Instructions:

• Start by boiling the 6 cups of water until it’s a rolling boil, then dropping in your pork belly, shaoxing wine, scallions, ginger, star anise, and sichuan peppercorns

• Decrease the heat to medium and let the pork belly boil for 40 mins

• In the meantime, just relax until the last 10 mins where you put noodles to cook and start making the sauce

• For the sauce, heat up 1/4 cup of veggie oil or neutral oil. You’ll know it’s hot enough when you place a chopstick into the oil and see it bubbling immediately.

• In a separate heat proof bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, scallion, spices, but save the soy sauce and black vinegar for LATER

• Pour the hot oil onto the dry mix and let it bubble, making sure to stir so that all ingredients get soaked by the oil

• Once it’s a little cooler, add in the soy sauce and vinegar and mix well.

• To serve, take a tbsp of the sauce you just made and mix with 1/3 cup of the pork broth made from simmering the pork belly. Then add in 1 tsp sesame oil and some sesame seeds.

• Place your noodles into a bowl, add in shaved cucumber and pork belly then pour on the sauce and mix well. Adjust seasoning to taste with a little more soy sauce or vinegar.