Ba Mee Moo Daeng (Red Pork & Egg Noodles)

If I'm honest, I've always been more of a fan of egg noodles than wide rice noodles which is unfortunate since rice noodles are much more common in Thai food than egg noodles which originate from China. So this Chinese influenced dish is one that makes me very happy. 

I took another trip through to Liverpool the other day and was excited to pick up a very long packet of fresh egg noodles in a Chinese wholesalers there so this dish NEEDED to be made! It's another classic street food dish and as ever, with all Thai street food and especially with noodles, it's fully expected that you will want to add your own flavourings to the finished dish. Just a note regarding the colour- I'm not a fan of artificial colouring and as such, the red on the pork is much more subtle than some luminous versions you can find that use food colouring to achieve a bright red shade.

For 4 portions, use:

• 1 large pork tenderloin
• 100ml of light soy sauce
• 25ml of dark soy sauce
• a big shake of Chinese 5 spice (ground fennel, cinnamon, cloves, szechuan pepper & star anise)
• fresh egg noodles (hard to give a specific amount- use your judgement!)
• 2 big handfuls of leafy/ crunchy green veg- choi sum, bok choi, pak choy etc.
• 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 3 (or more) chopped red chillies
• a big splash of rice vinegar (the clear sort)
• a splash of fish sauce
• a splash of vegetable oil
• some sprigs of fresh coriander

Begin by marinating the pork loin in a bowl in the mix of light and dark soy and 5 spice. Let it marinate for an hour then lift the loin out, placing on a baking tray and cook in the oven at 160 degrees celsius for around 20 mins. Use your discretion, if you've used a very large large loin, it may take longer.

While the pork cooks make the sauce; mix the vinegar, fish sauce and chillies. Also make the garlic oil; heat the oil and when medium hot, fry off the chopped garlic- only lightly as it's more to flavour the oil. Get a large pan of water on the boil.

Back to the pork. Although not advised, I do prefer my pork to be slightly pink on the inside so if you want it fully cooked, allow 5-10 minutes more. Leave it to rest and cool down for a bit then cut the loin into equal slices- about  6-8mm is perfect if you want to be specific.

When the water's at boiling point, drop in the noodles- if you use fresh they won't take long- 2/3 minutes should do it. Quickly scoop them out of the water and toss the noodles in the garlic oil so they won't stick. Throw the green veggies into the leftover boiling water and blanch for a minute (no more) before draining.

Plate everything up- flavoured noodles, a few slices of pork, some of the vegetables and pour over a generous splash of the sauce. Give the noodles a good mix and eat alongside a few stalks of coriander.