Handcut Noodles with Minced Pork Sauce

Preparation

Make Egg Noodles

Make two portions of noodles, cut noodles 1 inch wide to match photo, (or cut to whatever thickness you like!) Recipe here.

Prep Meat Mixture

In a bowl, soak dried shitakke mushrooms for about 30 minutes until soft. When ready, take mushrooms out and mince them, save the mushroom water for later use. In a large mixing bowl, put ground pork with the minced mushroom, chopped scallions, zested ginger, and garlic. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together, using circular motions until everything is incorporated and the mixture feels tacky, set aside.

Make sauce

In a large saucepan, cook shallots until they start to become transparent, about 3-4 minutes. On medium high heat, place your meat into the saucepan and cook until the pork mixture has browned and cooked through. Once the pork is browned, pour sake into the pan and let it boil until the alcohol has cooked through, about 20-30 seconds (you should see it start to evaporate). In your saucepan, mix in the almond hoisin sauce, sweet bean sauce, mushroom water, and salt into the meat mixture on medium heat. Continue to mix and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken and is the consistency of pasta sauce, about 10-15 minutes. If the sauce becomes to thick, feel free to add mushroom water by the tablespoon to thin it out. Once the sauce is done, place in container and set aside.

Cook Noodles and Assemble

Boil a pot of water on the stove and season well with salt. Cook noodles to al dente, drain, and set aside in a mixing bowl. In your mixing bowl with noodles, pour desired amount off sauce and mix with tongs until all the noodles are coated. To finish, place noodles in a bowl and garnish with thai basil buds, radishes, fresh scallions, and sprouts. Serve.