Tangy Pork Noodle Salad With Lime and Lots of Herbs

- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1teaspoon finely grated lime zest
- 2½tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- 2tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 2tablespoons fish sauce, plus more as needed
- 1tablespoon honey
- Fine sea salt
- 4tablespoons grapeseed or safflower oil
- ½cup thinly sliced shallot (1 large)
- 6ounces pad Thai or other flat rice noodles
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated or mashed to a paste
- 1(2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and grated (about 2 teaspoons)
- 1Thai or serrano chile, thinly sliced and seeded if you like
- 1pound ground pork (or turkey)
- 1cup thinly sliced cucumbers
- 2scallions, white and green parts, sliced
- 1¼cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1cup mung or other bean sprouts (or 1 cup lettuce)
- 1packed cup mint leaves
- 1packed cup cilantro or basil sprigs, or a combination
- 2cups shredded romaine or other crisp lettuce
- Red-pepper flakes, for serving
- Lime wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a small bowl, whisk together lime zest and juice, orange juice, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, honey and a small pinch of salt. Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl and whisk in 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil and the shallots. Set both mixtures aside.
- Step 2
Cook noodles in salted water and according to package directions. Rinse under running water to remove any excess starch, then drain well and add to bowl with shallots, tossing well. Set aside while preparing remaining ingredients.
- Step 3
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger and chile, and cook until lightly golden and aromatic, about 1 minute. Add pork and stir, breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook without stirring too often, until browned, about 8 minutes. Pour in lime juice mixture from the small bowl. Simmer gently until most of the liquid is evaporated, stirring to coat pork in the glaze, another 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
- Step 4
Add pork, cucumbers, scallions, cherry tomatoes, bean sprouts and herbs to the noodles and toss well to combine. Taste and add more fish sauce, lime juice or both. Just before serving, toss in lettuce, and serve sprinkled with red-pepper flakes with lime wedges on the side.
Private Notes
Comments
With hot/cool salads like this, I recommend keeping the salad greens apart, in a different bowl, and letting each person add it, as desired, to his own bowl with each serving. Just a few turns with a fork will let the hot ingredients mesh with the crisp lettuce. No wilted lettuce in any leftover pork! Just mix the two as you serve again.
We loved this. It's fresh, light and perfect for summer. Ours would feed far more than four, maybe six-eight. Didn't use a chili, but sriracha as a condiment. Made it with Turkey, but could also use tofu or shrimp. We also thought about eliminating the noodles and making lettuce wraps or fresh spring rolls with the filling.
This was amazing. Divided the recipe in half and used 1/3 pound ground pork, which was plenty. The fresh mint really made the dish. I sprinkled salted, roasted peanuts on top.
Wow! A new family favorite, even with teens who historically turned their noses up at similar flavors (there is hope!). Used fresh fettuccine cut Shanxi noodles and a mix of ground pork and turkey. Cleaned out veggie drawer, too. Lots of mise en place but well worth it. Doubled the recipe for 4 of us with enough leftover for 3 lunches today. Even a teen grabbed some.
This one is such a win and very adaptable. Great for using up anything lying around (fresh herbs, veggies, citrus, tomatoes) before it goes bad. The lime flavor is EXCELLENT. If you love lime, this recipe is for you!
A perfect Sunday summer dinner! Made this for 2 tonight-I halved the recipe, but made 1.5 X the dressing. It was needed. Used a Fresno chili, not a serrano, and I was a bit timid with it-would use more next time. Ground pork always seems to cook up into little dryish nodules, so I’ll sauté thinly sliced pork loin or shoulder next time. Was generous with the mint, cilantro, and basil-glad I was. I thought it wanted more ginger, so added additional grated ginger to the remaining dressing. A hit!
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