William's Noodle Topping

This recipe reflects true Chinese home-style cooking.  When you ask for a recipe or about measurements from a Chinese cook, you invariably get a response something like, "Oh, Chinese people don't use recipes, just season it to your own tastes."  And so this recipe is just a guide to making a savory, spicy meat topping to spoon on top of a steaming bowl of freshly boiled noodles.  William came over and made this for us.

1-2 lb. ground pork (not too lean!)

dark soy sauce

light soy sauce

oyster sauce

cooking wine

fresh garlic

fresh ginger

dried chilies

numbing pepper

large bunch of long beans, chopped fine

ya cai (pickled vegetable from a packet)

green onion

wheat noodles

Add 1 T. each of dark soy sauce and cooking wine to the ground pork, stir and let marinate while you prepare the other ingredients. 

Finely chop desired amounts of garlic and ginger.  (Maybe 2-3 cloves garlic and the equivalent amount of ginger.) Snip dried chilies into sections and discard the seed, measure out 1 tsp of Sichuan numbing pepper if desired.  Set all the spices aside.  It works well to put them in small piles on a plate.

Wash and finely chop the long beans.  Boil in water until tender and drain.

Heat several T. of oil in a wok.  Add garlic, ginger, dried chilies and Sichuan pepper, and fry briefly until fragrant.  Add meat and stir-fry until the meat changes color.

Continue frying.  Add a generous splash of dark soy sauce.  You want a nice dark color.  Add chopped beans and ya cai.  Finally, add a gloop of oyster sauce and a bit of light soy sauce.  Turn the fire to low and let simmer for a few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.  The meat should be overly salty because you're adding it to bland noodles.  Add more light soy sauce if it's not salty enough. 

To prepare noodles:  First bring a wok or pot of water to a boil.  In the meantime, prepare the noodle bowls.  To each bowl, add a splash of soy sauce, a very small amount of sesame oil, a sprinkle of chicken powder, chopped green onion, and if desired, some sort of spice, like red chili oil or ground dried chiles.  Boil the noodles according to package directions.  Scoop boiled noodles into prepared bowls, add a ladle of water from the cooking pot if you like your noodles soupy. (I do)  Last of all, spoon a generous serving of the meat mixture on top of the noodles and finish with another sprinkle of chopped green onion.  Serve immediately.  Eat with chopsticks and stir your bowl well before ploughing in!!!  Add more spice or seasonings at the table if you want.