Asian Minced Pork

Last weekend, Lulu and the fluffy dog were down on their holidays.  After much moaning from Lady Muck (Lulu) in the back to her chauffeur (me) about how long we were taking to get there, the small talk turned to thoughts of food.  I had already planned Friday night's dinner which was burgers and Italian Potato Nuggets (fried gnocchi to you and I, but if I mention the "G" word to Lady Muck, her perfect little nose would be turned up).  Saturday evening's dinner was still to be finalised so when I mentioned Chinese, she was very excited.  When I told her it was the nice stuff that her mum gets in the restaurant with all the lettuce to make a wrap, she smiled.  But then insisted that she would only eat noodles and not rice.  No way.  Oh, and a box of milk lolly icepops would be just the thing for a pre-dinner snack.  Pester power ruled the roost, let me tell you.

 

On Saturday, she was waiting for me to produce a takeaway menu so she could choose her dinner and have the man deliver it.  Not in this house, Lady Muck.  We're cooking this one from scratch.  I decided that subterfuge would be the order of the day to avoid the horrified looks when she saw me chopping chili and chiffonading mint for the pork, so on went yet another episode of iCarly as distraction. And an icepop.  Sure, she's on her holidays, what's the harm?  Oh, a word of warning - some prepackaged pork mince has an awful lot of fat, so read the labels carefully.  One pack I spotted was actually 25% fat, which would make this a greasy, not so pleasant dish.  I bought my pork mince from my favourite butcher who minced pork on the spot for me

 

Asian Minced Pork

 

300g Pork Mince

1 clove Garlic, crushed

1 Red Chili, deseeded and finely sliced

1 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Fish Sauce

1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

Juice of 1 Lime

1 bunch Spring Onions, finely chopped

25 Mint leaves, shredded

In a dry pan, fry the mince on a medium heat until cooked through - use the back of a wooden spoon to break it down into small pieces as you cook it.  Add the garlic and chili and cook for a minute.

Now add the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and lime juice and simmer for 2 minutes.  Sprinkle in the spring onions and mint leaves and turn off the heat.

 

You can serve this with iceberg or little gem lettuce, rice and stir-fried vegetables to stretch it out, or if you're Lulu, plain noodles.

 

It's a dish that freezes well, so if you make double, you'll have delicious leftovers for another day.  I'd freeze it for no more than 6 weeks and refresh it with more spring onions, lime juice and mint when it's reheated.

 

Scoff and enjoy!