Pigeon Cottage Kitchen

This is a perfect Saturday night supper and definitely special enough to serve to friends and family. It’s our go-to favourite when we’re in watching ‘Strictly’ on a cold winter evening. The soft aromatic pork in its spicy Asian-style sauce is perfect served with sticky jasmine rice or egg noodles. The layer of sautéed beansprouts adds crunch and texture, garnish with spring onion or fresh coriander for a delicious supper that you definitely can’t get at a takeaway!

You will need…

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 100g shallots, thinly sliced
• 50g crushed garlic
• 50g peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 large fresh red chilli, seeded and chopped
• 1.25g pork shoulder cut into 3cm chunks
• 2 tbsp sambal manis (a kind of thick chilli and shrimp paste – available in many supermarkets)
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp tamarind water (I use tamarind paste and make it up with water)
• 20 turns of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 300ml chicken stock – I use Knorr concentrated gel stock and make it up with water
• To serve: egg noodles (I use Waitrose dried egg noodles 4nests per pack) and fresh beansprouts plus 4 spring onions thinly sliced to garnish or chopped fresh coriander.

To make…

• Heat the oven to 160°C.
• Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based ovenproof casserole (I use my large oval Le Creuset) over a medium heat.
• Add the shallots and fry until soft and golden, then stir in the garlic, ginger and 1/2 tsp salt.
• After a minute, add the pork cubes and fry until lightly coloured.
• Add in the soy, stock, chilli, tamarind, sambal manis and bring up to a simmer. The stock should come to the level of the meat in the pot.
• Cook in the oven for 2 hours until the pork is tender and the sauce has reduced.
• Taste for seasoning 15 minutes before serving – this should be very spicy, add in more sambal manis or some chilli powder if it’s not hot enough for you.
• To serve, cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet (usually about 5 minutes) and stir fry the beansprouts with a touch of sesame oil. In warmed bowls, layer the noodles, then the beansprouts, spoon over the pork and sauce and top with chopped spring onion or fresh coriander.
• Enjoy!

Share, follow, like, enjoy!

• To get the latest #TheFridayRecipe from the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen blog, just add your email address to the subscribe box at the top right-hand column of the website.
• Follow me on twitter @pigeoncottage,  on Instagram at Pigeon Cottage Kitchen and the Pigeon Cottage Kitchen page on Facebook.
• Click on the link to get your very own copy of my family recipe book, Whats4teaMum?