I picked up a couple of boxes of gluten-free brown rice spaghetti noodles to try out for when we have friends and family over who need G-F options and, well, it was pretty decent; Italian bronze cut and all that, but…
I wasn’t loving it for Italian-style dishes.
SO, I got to looking for Asian ideas and came across an interesting – an flexible! I like that in a recipe! – idea for making chow mein, which would seem to be tailor-made for brown rice pasta, right?
Pretty much.
I cooked the pasta according to package instructions, then tossed it with the chow mein (I used cubed pork belly) just before serving in big bowls with crispy noodles and scallions on top.
Nice! – AND, if I skip those crispy noodles, gluten-free, so, another nice option for when I need one.
INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
•4 tsp cornstarch
•3 tbsp lower sodium Tamari
•3 tbsp oyster sauce
•3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
•4 tsp sugar
•1 tsp sesame oil*
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
Chow Mein:
•1-1/2 tbsp peanut oil
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•12 oz cooked pork belly, cubed**
•4 cups shredded cabbage
•1 cup diced onion
•1 cup chopped celery
•1 cup diced red pepper
•2 cups bean sprouts
•1/2 cup water
•Cooked rice noodles
Garnish:
•Chopped scallions
•Crispy chow mein noodles
*I was somehow out of sesame oil, and so used 3/4 tsp peanut oil plus 1/4 tsp mesquite liquid smoke
**Feel free to use ground pork, beef, or turkey or chicken.
Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, then toss two tablespoons with your cubed pork belly and let rest for ten minutes. If using ground meat, save all the sauce for cooking.
Heat the peanut oil in a large pan over high heat, then add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about ten seconds, just until you can smell it.
Add the pork belly (or ground meat) and cook for five minutes.
Add the veggies, toss to mix, and cook for another eight to ten minutes, until the cabbage and onion are tender and the ground meat (if that is what you have used) is cooked through.
Stir in the sauce and cooked noodles, then reduce heat to medium low and cook until heated through.
Serve with scallions and, if you like, those crispy (but sadly not gluten free) chow mein noodles on top.