In this quick and spicy weeknight noodle dish, sizzling hot oil is poured over red-pepper flakes, orange peel, crunchy peanuts, soy sauce and sesame oil. While you brown the ground pork, the mixture sits, and the flavors become more pronounced and fiery.
Tossed with soft noodles and browned pork, the bright chile-peanut oil shines. For something green, throw in a quick-cooking green vegetable like baby spinach when you break up the pork in Step 3. You can also swap the pork with ground chicken, turkey, or beef, or crumbled tofu.
It is suggested not to use the entire amount of chili oil. Therefore, I found it easier to strain the peanut chili oil over a bowl. This way you can toss the peanuts, noodles and ground meat together, adding additional oil to taste. And it was easier to toss it all in the larger pot as opposed to the skillet.
Spicy Sesame Noodles with Ground Pork and Peanuts
Ingredients
- 1½ Tbsp. red-pepper flakes
- 1½ Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
- 1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil, plus more as needed
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. neutral oil, like grapeseed or vegetable
- 6 Tbsp. roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
- Rind of ½ orange, peeled into 2- to 3-inch strips
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 5 oz. baby spinach
- 10 to 12 oz. ramen or udon noodles, preferably fresh
- 3 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
Directions
- In a medium heatproof bowl, stir together the red-pepper flakes, soy sauce and sesame oil. Set next to the stovetop.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, cook the ½ cup oil, peanuts and orange rind, shaking the pan occasionally, until the peanuts are golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour the contents of the skillet over the red-pepper mixture (be careful of splattering!) and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add the pork and press it down with a wooden spoon into a thin layer. Season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper and cook, without stirring, occasionally pressing the layer of meat down, until the bottom is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain excess oil from pan.
- Add minced ginger and garlic to the pan with browned meat. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Break the pork up into small pieces, add the spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
- While the pork cooks, cook the noodles according to package directions, until chewy but not soft. Drain and toss with a bit of sesame oil; return to pot.
- Remove and discard the orange rind from the chile oil. Strain the peanut-chili oil over a small bowl.
- Off the heat, add enough chile oil to coat the pork and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Add the meat mixture and peanuts to the pot with noodles and toss, adding more chile oil to fully coat the noodles and pork. (If you don’t use all of the chile oil, you can store it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks in an airtight container.) Top with chives and serve at once.
Loosely adapted from recipe by Ali Slagle for NYTimes
Accounting for Taste 