MONDAY RECIPE POST - PORK LO MEIN

This was originally in one of our Blue Apron deliveries. It was a hit and we have made it again at least twice. At the end of this recipe I will share a few changes we made. 

10 ozs. ground pork
2 stalks of celery, sliced and cut at an angle
10 ozs. baby Bok Choy, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 lb. fresh Lo Mein Noodles
2 tablespoons of sherry or rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon of black and white sesame seeds  

Fill a medium pot of water 3/4's of the way up with salted water; cover and heat to boiling on high.  

Wash and prepare all the vegetables.  

Combine the chopped Bok Choy and garlic in one bowl.  

In a separate bowl combine the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and 2 tablespoons of water.  

In a large pan heat the sesame oil on medium-high heat until hot.  

Add the sliced celery.  Cook stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened.  

Add the chopped Bok Choy and garlic; season with salt and pepper.  Cook stirring occasionally for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly softened.  Transfer to a bowl, cover with foil and keep warm.  

Wipe out the pan.  

Meanwhile, add the noodles to the pot of boiling water, stirring gently to separate.  Cook stirring occasionally for 2 to 4 minutes, or until tender.  

Drain the noodles and rinse under warm water for 30 seconds to a minute.  This prevents sticking.  

In the same pan as you cooked the vegetables, heat a drizzle of olive oil on medium high heat until hot.  Add the pork.  

Cook without stirring 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently and breaking the meat apart with a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes, or until browned.  

Very carefully add the sauce to the meat (you don't want it to splash and burn yourself).  Cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes, or until the pork is coated and cooked through.  

Turn off the heat.  

Add the cooked vegetables and cooked noodles, stir until combined.  Taste, then season with salt and pepper if needed.  

Serve the finished pork and noodles garnished with the sesame seeds.  

Enjoy!  


Here are our changes:

1/2 lb. ground beef 

2 stalks celery, sliced and cut at an angle

1/2 of a green cabbage, roughly chopped

1 sweet red pepper, deseeded and sliced thin lengthwise

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon hot chili paste

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds (we only had the regular kind in our pantry)

1 Ramen Noodle packet with the seasoning packet removed
1 tablespoon  sweet chili sauce

Wash and prepare all the vegetables.

Combine the chopped cabbage and garlic in one bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of chili paste, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 2 tablespoons of water.

In a large pan heat the sesame oil on medium-high heat until hot.

Add the sliced celery.  Cook stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened.

Add the chopped cabbage and garlic.  Cook stirring occasionally for 1 to 2 minutes, or until slightly softened.

Add the sweet red pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

Transfer all to a bowl, cover with foil and keep warm.

Wipe out the pan.

Meanwhile, cook the Ramen Noodles according to the package directions. This is the type we used.  Bring 2 cups water to a boil, carefully add the noodles to the boiling water, reduce heat to medium and cook for three minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain the noodles and rinse under warm water for 30 seconds to a minute.  This prevents sticking.

In the same pan as you cooked the vegetables, heat a drizzle of olive oil on medium high heat until hot.

Add the ground beef.  Cook without stirring 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently and breaking the meat apart with a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes, or until browned.

Carefully add the sauce as you don't want the liquid to spatter.  Cook, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes, or until the ground beef is coated and cooked through.  

Turn off the heat.  Add the cooked vegetables and cooked noodles, stir until combined.  Taste, then season with salt and pepper if needed.  We found it was just fine without, to our own taste anyhow.

Serve the finished beef and noodles garnished with the sesame seeds.  We also added a dab of sweet chili sauce which makes a nice accompaniment.  This is the one we used.  We purchased it at our local supermarket.

This meal is one of our favorites.  What we did and knowing how much we like this dish, we doubled up on all the ingredients, except the ground beef as we had it leftover from making cheeseburgers the night before.  Gregg would have liked more meat but this dish is very versatile, in that you can also use shrimp or scallops for a seafood twist, or tofu if you want to go vegetarian.  An ingredient we added when cooking our meal was hot chili paste, this one.  

We bought it from an Asian market we like to go to.  We have bought other brands at our supermarket before.  

It was very nice eating the leftovers the next day.  They seemed to taste even better.  

Thank you for looking and I wish for you to stay safe and healthy, and have an enjoyable week.