Pork Belly Udon

As winter continues to oppress us with a thick blanket of water in various states of solidification (snow, ice, snowcrete, etc.), I find myself longing for a hot, steaming bowl of noodles and pork belly in a rich, warming sauce. Usually, I wait until I am in the office to visit the noodle bar or the super spicy Xian place. But alas, the weather has played havoc with my travel plans. I shall have to see about gaining my noodle fix while at home.

The local not-so-mega-mart had pork belly in thick strips, almost like bacon, but in 1/2″ slices (for a near giveaway price). If one took those and diced them down to 1/2″ cubes and then marinated them in soy sauce, sugar, garlic, scallions, ginger, sesame oil, and sesame seeds—AKA Galbi stir-fried them with various vegetables and added a serving of thick Udon noodles at the end, one would have a cheap, tasty, and hearty meal. Whilst Galbi does refer to ribs and usually beef ribs cut in a flanken style, (across the ribs), I’ll commit the cultural misappropriation sin and use this for pork belly. In any case I am sure it will taste delicious.

Almost any cooked noodle can be used here, but as I have a package of Udon, I’ll cook that off, drain, and add it in the latter stages of dish preparation. In the last stage, I’ll taste-season and balance the flavor with chili crisp or sriracha, along with mirin and dark brown sugar. I’m looking for a sweet-salty taste, a rich mouthfeel, and a pleasantly warm finish at the back of my throat.

From Wikipedia:

Galbi or grilled ribs is a type of gui (grilled dish) in Korean cuisine. “Galbi” is the Korean word for “rib”, and the dish is usually made with beef short ribs. When pork spare ribs or another meat is used instead, the dish is named accordingly. Galbi is served raw, then cooked on tabletop grills usually by the diners themselves. The dish may be marinated in a sweet and savory sauce usually containing soy sauce, garlic, and sugar. Both non-marinated and marinated galbi are often featured in Korean barbecue. In Japan, this and many other dishes in Korean barbecue influenced yakiniku, a fusion cuisine that often makes use of galbi (glossed as karubi).

Cheap Pork Belly Noodles

Fast, cheap, tasty Asian fling meal..

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Marinate 4 hours hrs

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Cheap, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine American, Asian

Servings 2

Calories 901 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 oz Pork Belly Diced
• 1 ea Red Onion medium, cut to strips
• 1/2 cup Snow Peas Cut on bias (optional)
• 1/2 Bunch Scallions Sliced wafa thin
• 1 tsp Ginger minced
• 1 ea Bird's Eye Chili minced
• 1 Pkg Udon Noodles Prepared by pkg directions / Drained
• 1 tbsp Orange Juice Approx. 1/2 small orange
• 1 tbsp Teriyaki sauce
• 5 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp Chili Crisp or Siracha

Marinade

• 1 tsp Ginger Minced
• 1 tsp Garlic Minced
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chili Crisp or Siracha
• 1 tsp Mirin

Instructions

 

• Mix marinade in a zip-lock bag, add pork belly cubes, mix, and rest in a refrigerator for 1-8 hours.
• Drain the pork belly and discard the marinade.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in the wok, fry the pork belly until crispy, remove and drain.
• Add 1 tbsp oil to the wok, add onion and snow peas and fry.
• Add spring onions and sauté as well. Remove everything and set aside.
• Add garlic, ginger and chilli to the wok with the remaining oil and fry.
• Add the pork belly and the vegetables.
• Add orange juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil.
• Add noodles and stir fry briefly, stirring to heat through, and coat noodles in sauce
• Season, taste and balance flavor.

Notes

Basic quick and dirty lunch or dinner.

I marinate my pork belly for an extended period, but even and hour will add much to the flavor.

I’ll balance the sauce flavor with brown sugar, mirin, and siracha.

 

Note a simple teriyaki sauce is similar to:

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup soy
• 5 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

Mix 1/4 cup COLD water with cornstarch.

Cook 1 cup water, soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, ginger, and garlic powder in a saucepan over medium heat. 

Add Cornstarch slurry into the pan

Cook and stir sauce until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 901kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 18gFat: 88gSaturated Fat: 26gPolyunsaturated Fat: 14gMonounsaturated Fat: 44gCholesterol: 82mgSodium: 3425mgPotassium: 442mgFiber: 1gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 355IUVitamin C: 21mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 3mg

Keyword Pork Belly, Ramen, Stir Fry

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