Pork Noodle Bowls

This is seriously one of my favorite meals ever.  The combination of the pork with sweet, juicy mango and mint is simply amazing.  I have served it a number of times to guests and while some have been skeptical about such unusual flavor combinations, it has always been incredibly popular.  I make this using pre-cooked, shredded, frozen pork.

Adapted from: Smitten Kitchen
Difficulty: Easy
Category: Some Assembly Required



Serves: 4

Pork:

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup Chinese rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
3 cups shredded pork or about 3/4 lb

Combine all the ingredients except the pork in a frying pan.  Bring the mixture to a simmer.  Add the pork and continue to simmer gently until the pork is heated through and the sauce has reduced and coated the pork.

Sauce:

6 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons brown sugar
12 tablespoons lime juice
2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
Small Thai or Serrano chiles, thinly sliced, to taste

Combine all the sauce ingredients.

Noodle Bowls:
8 oz rice vermicelli noodles, cooked according to package directions
1 English cucumber, quartered and sliced
12 oz green beans, cooked until crisp tender and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 carrots, shredded or julienned
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
6 scallions, minced
handful mint leaves, minced

I usually put all of the ingredients for the bowls out and let everyone assemble their own.  To assemble a bowl, start with a noodles and top them with scallions and mint.  Add desired vegetables and mango.  Drizzle with sauce and top with pork.