PORK AND PEANUT NOODLES

My simplified noodles were inspired by Tieghan Gerard of Half-baked Harvest’s Dan Dan Noodles. Tieghan uses chicken mince and mushrooms; I prefer pork mince with patti pans. Feel free to leave out the fresh chilli and chilli oil if your kids will also be eating this dish – the adults can spice up their own portions with chilli oil to taste.

Makes 4 generous servings Preparation: 35 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

• 125ml low-sodium soy sauce

• 60ml hoisin sauce

• 10ml honey

• 30ml red wine vinegar

• 45ml unsweetened peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

• about 80ml boiling water

• 500ml chicken stock

• 2 handfuls of baby spinach

• 340g egg noodles

• 15ml sesame oil

• 600g fresh pork mince

• 200g patti pans, thinly sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped

• 4 spring onions, chopped

• a generous sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper

• about 10ml chilli oil, or to taste

• 80ml roasted peanuts, chopped

• fresh sliced chilli and coriander, to garnish

1 Beat the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, honey, vinegar, peanut butter and boiling water together until smooth.

2 Pour half of this sauce into a pot, stir in the chicken stock and bring to the boil; then turn off the heat. Stir the spinach into the pot (the residual heat will wilt it). Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet until al dente; drain and set aside.

3 Fry the meat in the sesame oil until it starts to brown (break up the meat with a spatula). Add the patti pans, garlic and spring onions and fry for a few more minutes. Add half of the remaining peanut butter sauce and fry over high heat until caramelised and the meat is nicely browned. Now is the time to season with black pepper and chilli oil, if you want a bit of a bite in your dish.

4 Mix the noodles, stock, meat and remaining peanut butter sauce together – this is a ‘soupy’ noodle dish! Garnish with the peanuts, fresh chilli and coriander or place the garnish in bowls so that everyone can add their own. Serve immediately!