I am not any kind of a food blogger. I don't even cook all that much. But when there is something this good to be eaten, then it must be shared.
A few weeks ago we had our fun and wonderful Chinese friends (along with a hoard of other guests) to the lake house and Penny - a Chinese mom of two and entreprenuer extraordinaire - cooked for us the most fabulous dish. I'm a picky eater in general, but this was so up my alley I asked her for explicit instructions. Thankfully, it's easy to make and she found all the necessary ingredients at Wal-Mart. (When she makes this at her home in San Francisco with authentic spices from the Chinese markets, I can't imagine how good it must taste.)
Anyway, I tried it over the weekend and YUM. If I can do it, you can do it:
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground pork
1 cup diced onions (Penny used white, I used green)
1 1/2 tablespoons of minced garlic
1 to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 bottle of Panda Express Mandarin Sauce (I found this at both Wal-Mart and my L.A. Albertsons)
1/2 tablespoon of red pepper flakes (this measurement is the most loose - taste for preference)
1 pound linguine noodles
3-ish tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
To make:
Cook the pasta noodles as instructed. Brown the pork and onions, adding in the soy sauce if you need a little liquid.
When the pork is about 3/4 done, add in the mandarin sauce, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook until meat is done (only a few more minutes), then let this mixture simmer while you deal with the noodles.
Mix your peanut butter with a little bit of hot water until it looks like this. The consensus at my table is that it was a little too peanut-buttery. I just used what was left in the jar, so I'm only guessing at my measurement (I probably used 4 tablespoons, which is why I advised you to use 3).
Mix the watery peanut butter with the noodles until coated, then dump the pork/onion/garlic sauce right on top and mix it all up. It's like Chinese pasta!
We like it spicy around here, so I made it so. I didn't measure the red pepper flakes, but if you're sensitive I would start with just a little and add. It was so good - we had the leftovers for lunch the next day because we couldn't even wait until dinner!
Bon Appetit! Immensely satisfying for even the pickiest of pregnant gals.