Meat Sauce
1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup Chinese fermented soy bean paste
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
two scallions, minced
Garnish
bean sprouts
shredded radish
cucumber, cut crosswise into 3" lengths and then sliced into matchstick shreds
boiled noodles (lo mein, spaghetti, or linguine)
1. Prepare the noodles.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ground pork and stir-fry until it changes color and the grains separate.
3. Add the bean paste and hoisin sauce. Stir-fry 3 minutes.
4. Add the water. Stir-fry 2 minutes.
5. Add the scallions and stir-fry to mix thoroughly.
For each serving, place a portion of the noodles in a bowl and spoon over some of the sauce. Diners add the garnishes as they wish.
Notes
There are two varieties of Chinese bean sauce. One has some split halves of soy beans left whole. The other (ground bean sauce) has all the beans ground up. I prefer the one with the intact beans in it. You can also use Japanese miso here.
You can use any kind of pasta that's long, thinnish noodles, either fresh or dried. Lo mein, dried Chinese noodles, spaghetti, linguine, and fettuccine all work. Cook them al dente.
-Paul W.