Minced Pork with Coconut Milk and Curry

Minced pork dishes are known in different Asian cuisines. This quick way of cooking the meat, with lots of flavors and fresh ingredients, makes it perfect for a light lunch.
The version I have here was heavily inspired by the Thai cuisine, but it doesn’t follow any traditional recipe, and cannot be considered authentic/ethnic by any means.

To make it, I simply gathered ingredients from different Asian cuisines, and mixed them into the tasty and fragrant dish you see here. The sweet-salty-spicy cooked minced meat was served over thin rice noodles, and topped with crunchy roasted peanuts, fresh herbs and a squeeze of lime, to freshen it all up. Try it and enjoy.

Notes:
* Boneless skinless chicken thighs can be used instead of the pork.

Makes: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
For the rice noodles:
1 package (8 oz/225 grams) thin rice noodles
For the meat:
1.3 lb (600 grams) boneless pork loin (see notes)
1 Tbs Hoisin sauce
1 Tbs green Thai curry paste
1 Tbs red Thai curry paste
For the sauce:
2 Tbs oil
4 red mini peppers, roughly chopped
3 scallions, roughly chopped
1 tsp curry powder mix (I’ve used Japanese S&B curry powder)
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 can (14 oz, 395 grams) full fat coconut milk
1 Tbs smooth peanut butter
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp lime juice
A few drops of hot sauce, to taste
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup mint, chopped
1 bag (12 oz/340 grams) Bean sprouts, washed and drained
1 tsp dark sesame oil
For serving:
½ cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped
Lime wedges

1. Cut the meat into medium size cubes, and chop in a food processor, fitted with the metal blade. Transfer into a medium bowl, add the hoisin sauce, green and red curry paste, and mix. Chop and prepare all the other ingredients.

2. Place the rice noodles in a bowl, top with boiling water. Soften for 3 minutes and drain.
3. In a large pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add ¾ of the peppers and scallions and sauté for a minute. Add the meat and mix with a wooden spoon, to break it down. Once it changes color, add the curry powder, soy sauce, coconut milk and peanut butter. Mix and bring to the verge of boiling. Cook for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.

4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the rice wine vinegar, lime juice and hot sauce, and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning. Mix in ¾ of the chopped cilantro and mint and the bean sprouts. Drizzle the sesame oil on top and turn off the heat.

5. Divide the drained rice noodles between serving bowls and add the pork mixture. Scatter the remaining peppers, scallions and herbs over, and top with chopped peanuts. Add a lime wedge and serve immediately.