My current favourite lockdown activity is going through restaurant menus and picking what I should cook next.

We are going for dishes that I had not bothered with previously, because the Chinese restaurant nearby my city office does it superbly.

Since we haven’t been to the CBD for 74 days now it’s far too long a stretch to be without this mouth-watering, appetite-inducing pickled mustard greens and pork noodles.

Turns out this was super easy! Cooked in under 30 minutes, this is now a favourite meal option at our house, with left overs quickly snapped up for lunch the following day. The aroma of ginger coupled with sour and saltiness of the pickled vege really makes this dish sing. I must make sure to top up my stash of pickled mustard greens at the next shop.

Pair with your favourite fresh or dry noodles, or my handmade Ramen noodles.

You can also serve the soup noodles with pickled turnip/daikon, carrots and also aromatic chilli oil. Check out those recipes too – perfect for many dishes here on my website.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 400g lean pork, should or schnitzel slices, cut into strips
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sichuan pepper powder (optional)
• 1 tsp white pepper, grounded
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 packet pickled mustard greens (or mustard vegetable heart)
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tsp white sugar
• 4 portions noodles (ramen, plain wheat, they will all work)

Instructions

1. Slice lean pork into thin strips. Marinate with soy sauce, sichuan pepper (if using), pepper, sugar, wine, corn starch and sesame oil. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Rinse the pickled mustard briefly with running water. Slice the pickled mustard thinly, stalk and leaves both.
3. Heat a large wok or saucepan over high heat. In the dry wok, add pickled mustard greens and cook for 2-3 minutes, moving it around in the wok thoroughly. This removes the packaged odour.
4. Add 2 tsp of oil to the mustard greens and mix it in with the spatula.
5. Add grated ginger and cook for another minute before adding sugar. Stir with spatula to mix it in.
6. Remove from pan and set aside.
7. In the same wok (no need to wash), add 2 tsp of oil and stir fry pork slices till almost fully cooked.
8. Return pickled mustard to the wok and stir to combine.
9. Add enough hot water to cover the meat and pickled mustard greens, ensuring there is enough soup for all the noodle portions.
10. Taste and season soup with extra shaoxing wine or soy sauce.
11. Cook noodles in a separate pot and drain cooking water.
12. Place portions of noodles in large serving bowls, and ladle in the meat and pickled mustard greens soup.
13. Serve with turnip and cucumber pickles, and aromatic chilli oil.