This tasty recipe from Canadian Living combines noodles with ground pork flavoured with Korean hot sauce. Cook the noodles and set aside. Make the sauce. Cook the pork until no longer pink and add onion, garlic, ginger and chili peppers. Cook for a few more minutes before adding the sauce. Cook for two minutes and remove from heat. Sprinkle with scallions and more chili peppers and serve. Cook’s notes: I used Rooster brand egg instant noodles. I used half of what the recipe called for and had more than enough. I did not add hot peppers to the garnish.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I used tamari instead of soy sauce, Shirakiku brand mirin and Lee Kum Kee sesame oil. All are free of additives. Gochujang often contains colour, so I made my own by combining equal parts of miso paste, maple syrup, hot red pepper flakes, tamari sauce and minced garlic to taste.

Korean-style ground pork stir-fry

Ingredients:

1 lb (454 g) instant noodles

3 tablespoons (45 ml) sodium-reduced soy sauce

2 tablespoons (30 ml) mirin

2 tablespoons (30 ml) Korean hot pepper paste (gochujang)

1 tablespoon (15 ml) brown sugar

2 teaspoons (10 ml) toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil

1 lb (454 g) ground pork

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated fresh ginger

2 small chili peppers, thinly sliced

3 green onions, chopped

Preparation:

In saucepan of boiling salted water, cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in bowl, whisk together soy sauce, mirin, gochujang, brown sugar and sesame oil. Set aside.

In large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook pork, breaking up pieces with wooden spoon, until almost no longer pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onion, garlic, ginger and chili peppers; cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Stir in reserved soy sauce mixture; cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, gently toss with noodles and green onions. Sprinkle with thinly sliced chili peppers and chopped green onions, if desired. Serves 4.

From Canadian Living