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Caramelised pork with quick pickled fennel and crispy noodles
Serves 6-8 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 4-5tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 500g lean, good-quality pork mince
- 1 stalk lemongrass, tough outer layer removed
- 3cm knob fresh ginger, peeled and cut into julienne
- 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 3tbsp fish sauce
- 3tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 2tsp sriracha
- 1 large bulb fennel
- 150ml cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 150g caster sugar
- 2tbsp fennel seeds
- 300ml sunflower oil, for frying
- 50g rice vermicelli noodles
- 1 bunch spring onions, to garnish
Method
Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat, add the mince and cook for around 5 minutes until well-browned all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Chop the peeled lemongrass stalk extremely finely. To help you do this, first use the handle of a heavy knife to bash the lemongrass on the bulbous part until it flattens and splits.
Heat the remaining olive oil in the frying pan and add the ginger, garlic, shallots and finely chopped lemongrass. Cook for around 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until everything is fragrant. Stir in the brown sugar and pour in 200ml water. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved and then return the pork to the pan.
Stir in the fish sauce, kecap manis and sriracha. Cook the pork for around 15 minutes over a medium heat until the sauce has all but disappeared and the pork is sticky and caramelised.
Meanwhile, finely slice the fennel (use a mandoline if you have one), reserving the fronds to fold in later, if you like. Put the vinegar, caster sugar and fennel seeds in a saucepan and cook over a gentle heat, until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up slightly and bubble the mixture for 2-3 minutes to burn off the harsh vinegar flavour but take care not to cook for too long or the mixture will thicken into a syrup.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little, then stir in the sliced fennel and set aside. Chop and fold the reserved fennel fronds, if using, into the pickled fennel before serving.
Heat the sunflower oil until very hot, then fry small strands of the noodles until crisp.
Shred the spring onions along their lengths and pop into a small bowl of iced water. Leave until needed, allowing them to develop curly shapes.
Serve the pork in small bowls, topped with the pickled fennel. Garnish with crispy noodles and spring onions.
This recipe was taken from the January/February 2021 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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