MM's Cheap Eats: Pork Satay Stir-fry

By Melanie Hughes

This is the kind of thing I’ll make when I desperately want to get a take-away (usually when hungover) but, I promise you, this is just as good!

Serves Two

2 Pork chops

Egg noodles (fresh or dried)

2 tbsp Peanut Butter

1 tsp Chinese Five-Spice

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

2 carrots, julienne style

Half pack of green beans

1 tsp ground ginger

Half an onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

Black pepper

Three chopped spring onions

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

(For the marinade)

1 tsp Chinese Five-Spice

1 tsp vinegar

1 crush clove of garlic

1 tsp Soy sauce

Pinch black pepper

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

Drizzle of vegetable oil

It looks like a lot of ingredients but most are duplicated for the marinade and I think most are fairly generic store cupboard ingredients so don’t fret!

Marinating the pork isn’t totally essential but it does make the meat tenderer and it tastes more authentic. Ideally, it should be done for at least 12 hours but one hour is better than nothing so if it’s a last minute decision then it’s not a big deal.

For the marinade all you need to do is chuck all the ingredients into a bowl or a freezer bag with the pork. You can chop the pork up into slices before or after – whatever you prefer. I’d probably do it before as it’s less messy and it means more of the pork gets soaked in the delicious mixture.

This recipe is not just easy but also very, very quick so once we start the cooking process it’s going to be one thing after the other. The best thing to do is have everything you need out and have all the vegetables pre-chopped before you start.

Set your oven to a low heat to start, around 50-70 degrees.

Heat a frying pan (preferably a wok) with the vegetable oil and fry the pork until it is sealed. Then remove, put onto a plate and into the oven on a very low heat to keep warm.

Boil water in the kettle for the noodles and place in a pan (leave some water in the kettle for the sauce later). Add the noodles, cover and lead to one side off the heat. I read a tip somewhere for perfect noodles, you just add them to boiling water, turn off the heat, cover and set to one side. It’s always worked for me, I usually only do enough for two so if cooking for more you might want to boil them for longer.

Now simply add the chopped carrots, onion, green beans, ginger, five-spice and fry until the onions and carrots are slightly softened. Add the soy sauce and spring onion then fry for a further minute.

Add the peanut butter and cook through for around 30 secs, it will be quite thick and stodgy so add some water from the kettle to loosen up the sauce. Once it looks like a normal satay sauce add the pork and make sure it’s cooked through (it’ll probably only need a minute or two).

Check the noodles, they should be soft by now but if not just whack them on the heat for a minute and bring to the boil. Drain the noodles and add them to the wok with the satay sauce and pork.

Finally, add a small splash of lime juice and drizzle the rich sesame oil over the top and serve up into a dish. If cooking to impress top with some crushed peanuts or some toasted sesame seeds. Yummy.