eating in

Growing up my parents would indulge my siblings and me (not to mention themselves) by bringing home Chinese fast food dishes a few times a month.  One of my favourite dishes was beef and black been hor fun (broad rice noodles).  The delicious black bean sauce coats the thick rice noodles and everything else in its path.  Unfortunately, when I get a craving nowadays the Chinese take out places around me are limited and have been disappointing in the past (all I’ll say is…baby cockroach), so instead I eat in and make do with whatever I have on hand.

I didn’t have any beef at home, but I did have ground pork meat and that did just fine.  I like to add a good helping of veggies to my noodle dishes so that I get my green quotient in while scarfing down on tasty processed carbs, and often use an equal volume of both (the veggies cook down so in the end it doesn’t seem like as much).  While I had chilis in the freezer I could have used, I felt lazy and just used some sriracha sauce instead.  Feel free to leave it out if you don’t like spice.

Black Bean and Ground Pork Hor Fun

• Dried rice noodles (400 g) or fresh rice noodles
• 1/2 lb of ground pork meat
• 1 onion cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 bell pepper seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 – 2 heads of broccoli cut into bite-size florets
• 2 – 3 green onions, minced
• 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 – 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 tbsp of fermented salted black beans, rinsed and crushed
• vegetable or peanut oil

Sauce

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 3/4 cup of chicken stock (room temperature or cold)
• 1 tsp of sriracha sauce or to taste
• 1-2 tsp of tapioca or corn starch

If using dried rice noodles, follow packaging instructions (do not overcook), then rinse with cold water, coat very lightly with oil and set aside.  Or if there are no package instructions, cover the dried noodles with boiling water in a bowl and soak for 10 to 15 minutes to loosen and soften.

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Heat the wok over high heat and add a tablespoon of oil (swirl the wok around to ensure it coats the sides).  When the oil is hot (shimmers and just starts to smoke), add the onions, and stir-fry quickly for 30 seconds.  Then add the ginger, garlic, black beans and green onions, and stir quickly for another 30 seconds.  Add the meat and stir-fry until just cooked.  Then add the bell peppers and broccoli, and stir-fry for another 30 – 60 seconds.  Add the sauce to the wok and stir, then add the rice noodles and combine all ingredients.  Taste and add salt if needed.