Pork and Noodle Stir Fry

Description

I love sitting down to a big bowl of delicious stir fried noodles loaded up with veggies and a perfectly cooked protein. This recipe for my Pork and Noodle Stir Fry is one of my favorite dishes that comes together easily and highlights tender and seasoned pork along with a generous amount of vegetables.  I’ve chosen pork cutlets for the protein in this recipe because the meat is already sliced thinly, so half the work is done for you!  Another great thing about pork is how it takes on flavors from the marinade so well.  Simply letting the pork sit in its marinade for 10-15 minutes really lets the flavors soak in for a rich and delicious result.  And let's talk about all the vegetables you’ll get in this dish.  This recipe packs in 4 cups of colorful veggies so you can really feel good about what you’re eating.  With all stir fry recipes, I like to break them down into categories: meat, sauce, veggies, and noodles.  I feel that compartmentalizing this recipe can make the overall cooking process less overwhelming. I personally like to start by prepping all of my veggies before my protein to save on washing my knife and cutting board halfway through a recipe. However if you are looking to save time, you can always prepare your veggies while your meat is marinating, choose your own adventure!  Once all of your chopping and slicing is done, you stir your sauce together and get your noodle water good and hot so it’s ready to go.  The noodles I recommend are Hakubaku Organic Udon Noodles. I like these not only for their short cooking time, but their texture is perfect, and the sauce clings to these noodles much better than regular pasta. When it comes time to cook your pork,  I strongly recommend cooking in two batches to avoid over crowding the pan.  Spread half of your pork evenly in a heated and oiled pan and allow it to come to a golden brown on each side.  Once you have completed this with all of your pork, set it aside and add just your carrots to the pan.  Carrots are a much heartier vegetable than cabbage and onions, to ensure even cooking, I like to add these to the pan a couple minutes ahead of everyone else.  Once all of your veggies and noodles are cooked, you can add everything to the pan for a good stir, and it’s time to eat!  I love to serve this with sliced green onions for a hit of freshness along with some chili oil for some heat (if you like it spicy).  This is such a great meal that fills and nourishes you on any weeknight, you’ll definitely want to go for seconds.  Speaking of seconds, did you know about that time I almost won the local pumpkin sailing regatta?  A fun tidbit about our town is that the pumpkin patch is seated directly downhill from the nuclear power plant.  As a result, our pumpkins are famed for growing to an unusually large size, big enough to fit a person inside! Instead of carving pumpkins for Halloween, we sail in them to see who can cross the lake the fastest.  Every year I contemplate registering for the regatta, but one year I finally got brave enough to give it a try.  The day of the race came and we were given a 5 minute head start to select our pumpkin.  Once the bell rang, all of the contestants started furiously hacking away at their pumpkin to form it into a suitable water vessel.  I, along with everyone else, had decided for a quick split down the middle and a rapid purging of seeds.  In no time, I was sailing away using my hands for paddles.  I decided that I needed to speed things along if I was to have any stake in the race, so I scooped up a large stick floating in the water, took off my hoodie, and made a makeshift sail that earned me a major advantage.  The shore was almost within reach when the winds suddenly shifted and I was whisked down shore.  By the time I had taken down my sail and corrected the course, I had lost my position in first place and victoriously finished second. After all that excitement and paddling, I was starving and needed something delicious.  That night I went home and whipped up a batch of my delicious Pork and Noodle Stir Fry to wrap up a memorable day.