I love noodles, I love peanuts, and I love a kick of chilli. If you do too, then you need to try this recipe. It is the perfect blend of spice and sweetness, with the nutty peanut taste giving an extra boost of flavour. It’s also super adaptable, you can pretty much use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. I chose to use carrot to add a bit of crunch, and peppers for a boost of colour. However, this recipe really would work well with any vegetables you have.
I also used quick-cook noodles, as it makes it a really speedy dish, but again you can use whatever you have in. These Chilli Pork Noodles are great for a quick weeknight tea, or for when you need to use up some of the old veg in the fridge, but you want a hot, hearty recipe packed with flavour and fun.
I know often people don’t tend to have hoisin sauce in the house, and often store-bought varieties are full of added sugar. So, I made my own for this recipe as it is really quick and easy. If you want a simple hoisin sauce recipe with no added sugar, check out my Simple Hoisin Sauce blog post. My hoisin sauce uses peanut butter, so for the noodle recipe, I chose to use tahini for a change. I also love the warm sesame flavour it adds to the dish. But, you can use peanut butter if you prefer, or if you don’t have tahini in. It will just make your meal even more peanutty (which definitely isn’t a bad thing in my opinion).
A quick note on the chilli – my family love spicy foods, and I used half of quite a large chilli. If spice isn’t your thing, you can easily scale this down – your noodles will still be full of delicious flavours. However, if you like it really spicy, feel free to add a whole chilli. Alternatively, you could garnish with some dried chilli flakes for an extra kick.
Its quick, it’s easy and its a crowd pleaser. You really can’t go wrong with this one!
Chilli Pork Noodles with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sesame oil
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp chilli flakes
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar (you can use rice wine if you have it)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp tahini (you can use peanut butter if you prefer)
- ½ chilli (or less if you don't like it as spicy)
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 lime
- 500 g pork mince
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 pepper
- 3 spring onion
- 250 g noodles (dried weight)
Instructions
- Firstly, chop your onions and carrots into thin slices, and dice your spring onion and pepper. Finely chop the chilli. Set all of these aside for later.
- Next, finely chop the garlic. Add the garlic, sesame oil and chilli flakes to a pan on a medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes – the mixture might bubble a bit. Then turn the heat down, let cool and set aside. We won't use all of this chilli oil, so you can put it into a container if you want for later use.
- Now cook your noodles according to the instructions on the packet. I used quick cook noodles, but any are fine. Drain them and set aside.
- Make your sauce by adding the honey, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and tahini to a bowl, and mixing them together.
- Add half of the sauce mixture, and crumble the stock cube over the noodles. Mix it in so they are covered with sauce. You can add a little hot water to loosen them up if you want a saucier dish.
- Next, add 3 tbsp of your chilli oil to a pan or wok. Add the pork mince and fry until it is browned all over.
- Add all of the vegetbales, (saving some spring onions for garnish if you wish) and the chilli, and cook for a few more minutes, stirring them in.
- Finally, add your noodles, along with the rest of the sauce mixture and the juice of a lime. Mix it all together, and cook for a few more minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the noodles are fully hot.
- Serve with a garnish of spring onion, and a little chopped chilli if you like some extra heat.
Method in pictures
Gather your ingredients
You will also need some vegetables, pork, and noodles.
Chop up your vegetables
And the chilli
Chop the garlic
To make the chilli oil, combine the sesame oil, chilli flakes, and garlic in a pan
Heat for 5 minutes
Set aside for later
Cook noodles according to package instructions
Mix the sauce ingredients - the tahini, honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and vinegar
Add the stock cube, half the sauce mixture and some hot water to the noodles and mix
Fry the pork in 2 tbsp of the chilli oil until browned
Add the vegetables
Add the noodles, along with the rest of the sauce mixture and some lime juice
Mix together...
...and serve!
