Thai Pork and Noodles

I miss Chinese food. I don't get to eat it a lot anymore because MSG gives me a massive migraine, and we do not really care for the two Chinese restaurants in town. I make a mean Chicken Lo Mein, but I really want to try something different. James and I have never had Thai food and have wanted to for awhile; however, there are no local Thai restaurants, so I decided to try my own. I found this recipe in the April 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine and with a few tweaks we had a very yummy meal.

I cut the amount of pork called for in the recipe down by half (I am trying to cut down our meat intake), cut out the veggies (because I don't eat them...next time I will include some veggies for James), cut the fish sauce down a little (James isn't a huge fan), cut down the amount of peanut oil, and used a different type of rice noodle. My version of the recipe is below the picture.

Thai Pork and Noodles

1/2 pound thin boneless pork chops, sliced into 1/4 inch strips

8 oz. rice noodles

1 c fresh cilantro

1 lime = zest and juice

2 slices peeled ginger

2 cloves garlic

3 red jalapeno peppers, seeded

2 shallots, roughly chopped

2 T fish sauce (if you like fish sauce, use 3T)

2 T lightly packed brown sugar

3 T peanut oil

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Reserve a couple of T of noodle water before draining and rinsing with cold water.

2. In a food processor, puree the cilantro, lime zest and juice, garlic, ginger, jalapenos, shallots, fish sauce, brown sugar, and 1 T of water until smooth.

3. Heat peanut oil in large skilled over high heat. Add half the cilantro mixture and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink.

4. Reduce the heat to medium and add noodle water to the cilantro pork mixture and stir. Add the noodles and two more T of cilantro mixture and stir. Break out the chopsticks and enjoy!

Next time I make this, I am not going to seed all the jalapenos. I think the flavor of the dish would have been enhanced by a little more spice. We also had a little of the cilantro mixture left so we are going to use it to marinate some tuna steaks later in the week.