Stir-fried Udon with Pork and Asparagus

It's been a while since I posted something I made in my wok, hasn't it? Well, here you go— stir-fried udon noodles with pork and asparagus. The ingredients are easy to find and dinner can be on the table in 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how efficient you are in the kitchen. Oh, and did I mention it tastes good?  Even the kid ate it without complaining, which says a lot when we're talking about asparagus and bell peppers.



Stir-fried Udon Noodles with Pork and Asparagus
Serves 4
3/4 pound ground pork or chicken*
1 bunch skinny asparagus, cut into 2 inch sticks
1 bell pepper, sliced into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 knob ginger (about the size of an adult thumb), minced
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce** (more to taste)
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 tbs soy sauce + more for seasoning
1 tbs hoisin + more for seasoning
1 tbs Chinese rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1 package udon, parboiled, rinsed with cold water and tossed with peanut or sesame oil

Prepare the sauce by combining the oyster sauce, 1 tbs soy sauce and hoisin, rice whine and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside until needed.

Heat your wok over high heat until it is blazing hot. Add about 2 to 3 tbs peanut or vegetable oil. (No olive oil! It's not suitable for high heat cooking.) Immediately add the garlic, ginger and chili-garlic sauce. Stir to prevent them from burning. After about 30 seconds, add the meat and stir quickly and constantly. When the meat is just browned, remove it to a bowl. Add more oil if necessary and add the bell pepper and asparagus. Stir-fry for a minute or two. Remove the vegetables to the same bowl as the meat. Add the cold noodles to the wok. Quickly move the noodles around to prevent sticking. Turn down the heat if necessary. After a couple of minutes, add the meat and vegetables back into the wok followed by the sauce. Quickly toss the noodles in the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning with soy sauce or hoisin, if necessary. Serve immediately.

*I like to grind the pork or chicken thighs myself because I find that pre-ground meat tends to be a bit wet. You don't need a meat grinder. Simply use a food processor or do it by hand. It really doesn't take long.
**I prefer the Rooster Brand chili-garlic sauce. It's much spicier than Lee Kum Kee Brand. Either will work just fine.

Other noodle stir-fries you may like:
Stir-fried rice noodles with Kecap Manis
Crispy Noodle Cake with Saucy Stir-fried Vegetables
Pan-fried Udon with Beef, Broccoli and Shiitakes
Indonesian-style Noodles

Weekend Wokking with Asparagus

If there’s one possession I’d want to take with me to the Afterlife, it would be my wok. It’s my pride and joy and has immense sentimental value. Weighing in at a whopping 10½ pounds, it’s a real cast iron monster. Countless stir-fries and deep-fries have left it beautifully seasoned. I could probably go on and on about how wonderful it is, but I'm afraid you'll think I'm a weirdo.

That wooden spoon is my second most prized possession. It's 19.5" long and perfect for stir-frying. I scored it on our trip to Italy.

I really don’t need a reason to bust out the wok. As it is, I use it easily 3 times a week. But when it’s for a special event, like dinner guests, a potluck or Weekend Wokking, I get particularly excited. What’s Weekend Wokking, you ask? It’s a blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks. The idea is to come up with a dish around a (seasonal) theme ingredient. This month’s ingredient is asparagus, so if you’ve got an asparagus recipe you know we’ll love, then do share! Wandering Chopsticks is the host this month, so shoot her an email with your entry and she’ll include you in the round-up. But you better hurry, deadline’s this Sunday! If you can't make the deadline but want to participate in the future, check out the host list. And don’t let the fact that you don’t have a wok stop you. It’s not a requirement. You just have to feature the theme ingredient in your dish.



Asparagus...such a versatile vegetable. When it’s in season, like now, I actually like to eat it raw, but it’s also great used in stir-frys. I love the way it stays crisp-tender. It’s also on the approved vegetables list, which is another way of saying Sonny will eat it.

This stir-fry uses one of my favorite flavor bases, a seasoning paste called naam prik phao. It’s a chilli paste made using chillies, shallots, tamarind juice, dried shrimp, fermented shrimp paste and sugar. As you can judge from the ingredients, it a little sweet, a little spicy and has a nice dose of umami. I use it in hot and sour soup, atop sunny side up eggs, in stir-fries and as a general dipping sauce. Naam prik phao can be found at any Thai-Viet grocer and maybe other Asian grocers with SE Asian sections. Alternatively, you can make it yourself. There are numerous recipes on the web, however I can not endorse these, as I've not tried them. I have recently made some based on a recipe from The Food of Thailand (see right side bar), and it was good. Next time I do it, I'll post about it with pictures.


Thai-style Beef and Asparagus Stir-fry
Feeds 4

• 1 pound beef chuck steak, sliced for stir-frying
• 1 tbs Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, roughly minced
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2-inch segments
• 2 tbs naam prik phao
• 2 tbs thin soy sauce (regular soy sauce is fine)
• 2 tbs oyster sauce, preferably Thai

In a small bowl, combine the beef, cornstarch and Chinese cooking wine. Combine well and set aside until needed.

In another small bowl, make the sauce by combining the naam prik pao, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir well to combine the ingredients. Set aside until needed.

Make sure you have all your ingredients very close by because this stir-fry goes lightning fast. Have a small cup of water handy as well just in case you need to thin the sauce a little. I bet it won’t take you more than 4 minutes to cook this dish!

Heat your wok over high heat until very hot. Add about 2 or 3 tbs oil (no olive! not appropriate for stir-fry; grape seed is best!) then add the beef followed by the garlic. If your wok is hot enough, your beef will cook very quickly. When the beef is seared, but not cooked through (about 30 sec to 1 minute, max) add the asparagus. Cook for another minute. Add about 2/3 of the sauce mix. It should caramelize pretty quickly because of the high sugar content. If it gets too thick add a little water to thin it out. Quickly taste it and add the rest of the sauce if you think it’s required. Give everything a quick stir, then you're done. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Added: Check out the round-up here!