Tasty Tuesday - Asian Pork with Noodles

Just in case I haven't said this already, I love the Food Network magazine! The recipes are delicious. There is a wide variety of recipes too, some challenging, some easy, including all kinds of food from appetizers to entrees to plenty of tasty desserts. Here's the latest recipe that I made. We had friends over on the night I made this, and they told me I should hire someone to come nanny and clean so I could cook more :) Really, the recipe was not that difficult to make and it turned out fantastic. Because it's a slow-cooker meal, I feel like the recipe is somewhat forgiving too, even better!

{Ingredients}

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (If you don't use low-sodium, just don't salt the pork shoulder)
  
• 1 cup soy sauce
  
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
  
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
  
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used chili powder instead because that's what I had)
  
• 2 star anise pods (don't go cheap and forget these, they were worth the cost!)
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
  
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
  
• 1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
  
• 6 to 8 whole dried shiitake mushrooms
  
• 1 pound soba or ramen noodles (about 5 packages of Nissan or Top Ramen)
  
• 1/4 cup water chestnuts, sliced (one can)
  
• 2 Fresno chile peppers, seeded and thinly sliced (not a fan of spicy, so I didn't use these)
  
• 2 scallions, sliced 
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 

{Directions}
Combine the broth, soy sauce, sherry, sugar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, star anise and cinnamon stick in a 5-quart slow cooker. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then add the garlic, ginger and mushrooms.

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil. Add the pork and brown on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker, cover and program to cook 4 hours on high, then 2 hours on low, or 6 hours total on low.

Transfer the pork to a platter, cover and let rest 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the broth and halve them, then return to the broth. Remove star anise and cinnamon stick and discard.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles as the label directs. Slice the pork. Divide the noodles among bowls and top with some of the broth and mushrooms and a few slices of pork. Garnish with the water chestnuts, chiles, scallions and cilantro. (I chopped up the water chestnuts, scallions and cilantro and stir fried them in a little bit of oil because that sounded better to me)


 
Originally, I was going to just add some stir fried broccoli, since the recipe doesn't have any veggies with it. However, I then remembered that the wife of the couple we were having over for dinner was allergic to broccoli, so I made some stir fried green beans instead. I just put some frozen green beans in my wok with a little oil and some garlic salt. Made an excellent side dish :)
We were so hungry by the time it was ready, I forgot to take any pictures! (The one at the top is from Food Network.)
If I get to it, I'll post a couple more recipes this week because I made some other very tasty food too. We'll see how that goes...

~S