Asian spiced sticky-pork salad

Serves 6 For the salad, you will need: 500g trimmed pork fillet, free of any membrane 2 teaspoons five-spice powder 1 tablespoon nam pla (Thai fish sauce) 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 stick lemongrass, trimmed (see Rachel Recommends) and finely sliced 2 mild red chillis, deseeded and chopped 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated or crushed 2 shallots, finely chopped 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons sunflower oil 6 handfuls of salad leaves, including some crunch, such as cos leaves A large handful of a mix of mint, basil and coriander leaves 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, deseeded and sliced 4 spring onions, thinly sliced 50g salted peanuts, roughly chopped For the Asian dressing, you will need: 2 small bird’s eye chillies, finely sliced 1 large clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated 3 tablespoons caster sugar 4 tablespoons nam pla (Thai fish sauce) 4 tablespoons lime juice 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or cider vinegar) 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 Cut the pork fillet into 1cm slices. Place in a bowl and toss with the five-spice powder, fish sauce, soy sauce, lemongrass, chillis, garlic, chopped shallots and brown sugar. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes. 2 Meanwhile, make the Asian dressing. Mix together the sliced bird’s eye chillis, garlic and caster sugar with fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and olive oil. Stir well or place in a jar with a lid and shake well. Set aside. 3 Place a large frying pan or wok on the heat and allow to get hot. Drain the pork but reserve the marinade for later. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the sunflower oil into the pan and once hot, arrange the drained pork in the base of the pan in a single layer (you might need to cook it in two batches) and cook on either side for a couple of minutes, till cooked and golden on the outside. Tip the reserved marinade into all the pork in the pan and cook uncovered, still over a high heat, until the marinade reduces to a thick, sticky sauce. 4 While the pork is cooking, in a large bowl, toss the salad leaves (torn if they are large) with the herbs and the sliced cucumber. Dress the leaves, using as much of the dressing as you need, and then tip them out onto a wide serving plate or shallow bowl. Tip the pork with all the sauce over the top, tossing gently, then scatter over the sliced spring onions and the peanuts, and serve right away.