Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy
These Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy are the perfect flavor-filled, quick and easy meal that your whole family will enjoy.
You can never go wrong with noodles. Everyone always seems to love them; they’re generally pretty easy to make, and you can add enough other ingredients to them to make a complete meal in a bowl. Plus, you can flavor them however you want, with whatever combination of sauces and spices you choose!
Don’t let the “spicy” in these Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy scare you away; you can cut down on the red pepper flakes to make them as spicy or as mild as you want. The garlicky, umami peanut sauce adds enough flavor on its own if you choose not to add too much heat.
Note that these noodles cook up quickly, and you can have the dish on the table in about 30 minutes from start to finish. You will need to dirty two pans (one pot for boiling the noodles, one pan to stir-fry); this is pretty unavoidable with most noodle dishes.
How to Make Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy
To make these easy and delicious noodles, start by prepping the bok choy. This will include washing, drying, and cutting it. The easiest way to wash and dry bok choy (and most other leafy greens) is to use a salad spinner. If you don’t have one, you can also rinse it in a colander, then lay it onto a clean dish towel and pat dry.
After the bok choy is clean and dry, thinly slice it. Keep the darker green leafy tops separate from the lighter green (or white, depending on what type you buy), thicker stem pieces. The stems take longer to cook and are added to the noodles first. Set the prepped boy choy aside for now.
Next, get the sauce ready. This simply involves stirring together the soy sauce, peanut butter, brown sugar, and rice vinegar in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set the sauce aside for now.
Now it’s time to boil the noodles. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. I recommend cooking them to al dente (or simply cooking for a couple of minutes less than the directions say) as they will cook a little more during stir-frying.
Make sure to reserve some of the cooking water before draining the noodles and rinsing them in cold water.
Heat the canola oil in a large non-stick skillet (or wok) over medium-high heat. Add the sliced pork and cook until it’s no longer pink. Add the bok choy stem pieces, minced garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, and black pepper, and cook until the garlic is starting to brown.
Stir in the noodles and the leafy bok choy, then pour in the sauce mixture and half of the reserved noodle cooking water. Cook, stirring until everything is mixed, until the noodles are coated with sauce and heated through, and the bok choy is wilted. Add more of the noodle cooking water as needed if the noodles are too dry.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the fried shallots. Divide the noodles between four bowls and garnish with additional fried shallots if desired. Serve immediately.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or a non-stick skillet.
Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy Ingredients
- Baby bok choy or Shanghai bok choy
- Soy sauce or use reduced-sodium soy sauce to cut back on sodium
- Peanut butter – I used natural peanut butter, but any creamy or chunky no-stir peanut butter will work too.
- Light brown sugar
- Rice vinegar – Find rice vinegar in the aisle with other vinegars, or in the International aisle. Any well-stocked grocery store should have it. Make sure it’s plain, unseasoned rice vinegar for this recipe.
- Dried Chinese wheat noodles – You want to look for any thin, dried, wheat-based noodle. Check in the International aisle of your grocery store, but if they don’t have any that look right, head over to the pasta aisle. You can also use spaghetti or spaghettini. Don’t substitute fresh noodles here – they will be too soft and will break down during stir-frying.
- Canola oil – or any other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Lean pork – I used some of the scraps I had from cutting up a pork loin. A pork chop or part of a pork tenderloin will also work. Or you could substitute chicken (either the thigh or the breast will be fine). Substitute fried tofu chunks to make these noodles vegan.
- Garlic
- Sweet paprika
- Red pepper flakes – increase or decrease the amount to make these noodles spicier or milder. My kids don’t like a lot of spice so I only used ½ teaspoon (my daughter still said they were too spicy).
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fried shallots – these are available in bags or jars in the international aisle of well-stocked grocery stores, or in Asian markets. If you can’t find them, you can substitute crispy fried onions, or fry your own fresh shallots (see the instructions in the recipe note).
Want more noodle recipes?
Spicy Noodles with Pork and Bok Choy Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one-quarter of the recipe. If your portion is larger (or smaller) than this, the nutrition information will vary accordingly.
Note that these noodles are fairly high in sodium, almost exclusively from the soy sauce. To cut back, I recommend using a reduced-sodium soy sauce.
This recipe is dairy-free as written. To make the noodles vegan or vegetarian, you can omit the pork or replace it with fried tofu. If you need the dish to be vegan, also make sure to check the noodles, as many will contain eggs.
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash and dry 12 ounces baby bok choy (the easiest way to do this is to use a salad spinner, but you can also rinse and drain in a colander and pat dry with a clean dish towel). Thinly slice the bok choy and separate the thicker pale stems from the darker, leafy green part. Set aside.
- Stir together 3 Tablespoons soy sauce, 3 Tablespoons peanut butter, 3 Tablespoons light brown sugar, and 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar in a measuring cup or small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook 12 ounces dried Chinese wheat noodles to al dente according to the directions on the package. Make sure to reserve ½ cup of the cooking water before draining. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons canola oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sliced pork and cook, stirring often, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Add the bok choy stem pieces, the minced garlic, 1 ½ teaspoons sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper and cook until the garlic is beginning to brown, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in the noodles and the remaining leafy bok choy. Pour the soy sauce mixture and ¼ cup of the reserved noodle cooking water over everything and toss to coat. Continue cooking and tossing until all of the noodles are coated with sauce (add the remaining cooking water as needed if the noodles are too dry). Mix 2 Tablespoons fried shallots. Divide the noodles between 4 bowls, and garnish with additional fried shallots if desired. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Notes
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