Pork Zha Jiang Mian

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g dried wheat noodles
• 500 g pork mince
• 4 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves + 15 g fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp white miso paste + 3 tbsp hoisin sauce + 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 200 ml water
• 1 cucumber (about 300 g)
• 2 carrots (about 100 g each)
• 1 tsp sesame oil

🍴 Utensils

• Wok or large sauté pan
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Grater
• Chopping board
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Finely grate the peeled garlic and ginger. Slice the spring onions, keeping the whites (for the sauce) separate from the greens (for serving). In a bowl, mix the miso, hoisin sauce and soy sauce into the water until you have a smooth sauce with no lumps of miso.
2. Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots and cucumber into thin 5 cm sticks, like matchsticks. Keep them in the fridge: their cool crunch balances the very rich sauce.
3. Heat a wok or large sauté pan over a medium-high heat, without any fat. Crumble in the minced pork and cook for 6 to 8 min, breaking it up with the spatula, until well browned and slightly crispy in places: this is what gives the sauce its flavour.
4. If the pork has released a lot of fat, spoon some of it off, leaving about 1 tbsp in the wok. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion whites and stir for 1 min over a medium heat, without letting the garlic brown.
5. Pour in the miso sauce, mix well and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 to 12 min over a low heat, stirring often, until you have a thick, glossy ragù with almost no liquid left at the bottom. Keep an eye on it towards the end: the sweet sauce catches quickly.
6. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil, without salt as the sauces are already salty. Cook the wheat noodles according to the packet, usually 4 to 5 min, stirring at the start so they don't stick.
7. Drain the noodles, rinse them quickly under lukewarm water to remove excess starch, then toss them with the sesame oil so they stay separate.
8. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls, add a big ladleful of miso pork in the centre and arrange the cucumber and carrot sticks around it. Sprinkle with the spring onion greens and mix everything together in the bowl just before eating.