I may need a pork intervention

I don't know what it is but my inner Asian chef has been working her magic lately. This makes it easier when I have access to Asian groceries. Sadly, they're not in close proximity to home anymore. When I'm craving a specific dish I will go out of my way to go shopping for the ingredients.

SOMEN

Last weekend I was introduced to somen noodles when I stayed over my friend Erin's's house. It's a cold noodle dish traditionally eaten during the hot weather days. They served it with slices of kamaboko, cucumber, green onion, and chinese bbq pork (char siu). Last step is pouring over diluted memmi (noodle base broth). It's delicious and light on a summer day. As soon as I could I went shopping for ingredients and this time everything was much easier to find, unlike the jjajangmyun ingredients from last week. The lame asian market I went to didn't have any char siu so I had to make an extra stop at a chinese restaurant to order it. I could've made it instead but I was feeling lazy. The most I wanted to do was prep the somen.

My first try at cooking somen was a spectacular fail. I won't be trying to soak them in hot water at work again. It's not like hardy ramen folks. Somen is much too delicate. The 2nd time I cooked it correctly. Cooling it down fast with ice water after boiling and rinsing out all the starchy water while swooshing the noodles around is definitely the key to getting it right. It's a yummy simple dinner to make when you don't feel like doing any serious cooking.

JAPANESE BRAISED PORK BELLY(as pictured above)

I was craving yet another pork dish and I came across a recipe (click on pic or link) that seemed simple enough. I had left over frozen pork belly from the jjajangmyun and only thing I didn't have on hand was star anise. Fortunately my local Safeway carried it. The only difficult part was waiting for it to cook for about 2 hours. The whole house smelled amazing and the pork turned out incredible! It's so rich though I only had 4 pieces over fresh yakisoba noodles, also purchased from Safeway found in the tofu area. It was the closest and only choice I had for ramen. :/ I threw out the powder base it came with and used the broth from the pork belly instead when I cooked it in the microwave (yes, microwave as per instructions on bag). I also had it with a hard boiled egg that I added the last 10 minutes of cooking the pork. I'm adding this to my many favorite recipes.

BANH MI (vietnamese sandwich)

I was at the grocery again after work not even looking for food but the fresh french baguettes were calling me. Another light bulb went on. I had all the makings for banh mi except for cilantro. I bought pre-made pickled daikon, carrots, jalapenos from the deli at the asian market last week the I needed to use too. For the meat I used the left over char siu for the somen I had earlier in the week.

The assembly:

1. I sliced about a 6" length baguette and sliced it lengthwise in half like a hot dog bun. I scooped out some of the bread innards on both the top and bottom slices to make room for the ingredients. On the bottom side I spread a thin layer of low fat mayo.
2. Thinly slice cucumber on the diagonal (to get length) and add a layer on top of the mayo. I sliced enough to cover the bread.
3. I added slices of char siu on top of the cucumber. I didn't have a ton of char siu but just enough to spread it out through the sandwich. For many banh mi you don't need much meat anyway.
4. The pickled veggies I had were thicker than I liked so I julienned them a bit. I piled a ton on the meat. I really love cilantro in my banh mi, so I piled a bunch on top also (stems cut).

I drizzled a tiny bit of soy in the veggies, cut it in half and I stuffed my face. For my first homemade banh mi, it was surprisingly good. I know it's just a sandwich, but this is my favorite kind. I had to do it justice. I think I did it justice. If only I had access to a Vietnamese bakery. Next time I will mix in some Sriracha sauce with the mayo to give it more of a kick.

After I take a break from pork I'm going to try out this clay pot rice and sausage dish. Maybe I should find a clay pot rice chicken or fish recipe instead? I suppose I should find a clay pot first.