Pork Lo Mein

Last weekend my mom and aunt took me and my cousins for a weekend in New York City, we stayed on Lexington Ave on the east side of Manhattan. We had a blast!! It was an amazing trip filled with family, laughs, good food, shopping, shows, more amazing food, and oh did I say shopping?? Really the meals we had were out of this world! We ate at Buddakan, Lure, Tipsy Parsons, had drinks at the roof top bar at the Gavensvoort Hotel, shopped in great little markets. My friend Niki, said it best when she called it a real 'ladycation". We are such lucky girls to have such amazing, giving moms who treat us to adventures like this or like this.

On the street of New York

"The Girls" Peggy, Dana, Ellen, Alli and me at Lure

Walking through Grady Market, look at the beautiful produce, it was dreamy for me!

Me and my mom at Buddakan

I always try to re-create meals I eat out and taking on this meal is HUGE! Buddakan was probably one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at in my life, the food was amazing, interesting, beautiful and unique. We ordered several things from the menu, Dim Sum, appetizers, main courses and desserts. Everything was out of this world good! We all loved this Pork Lo Mein dish, it was surprisingly simple but full of great flavors, the menu description said Pork Lo Mein with pickled cucumbers which we thought sounded weird but we all agreed it was one of the best things we ordered. So here is my attempt at the recreation...

Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, cooked
1 lb ground pork (lean)
5-6 scallions chopped
1/2 cup snow peas, ends removed
1/2 cup  broccolini (broccoli  rabe or florets)
1 T ginger, minced
1 T garlic, minced
1/3 cup of a good quality sweet pickle
5 T soy sauce, separated (I use Tamari, Gluten Free)
2 T Asian Vinaigrette, (I use Trader Joe's)
2 T honey
2 t sesame oil, separated
1 T canola oil

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over high heat, then add the ground pork, using a spoon to break up the pork into small pieces, next add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the pork, cook until very done and crumbly. Once done, remove from pan and set aside. While the pork is cooking whisk together 2 T soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of honey and the Asian Vinaigrette.  Heat the sesame oil in a wok then add the broccolini, ginger and garlic and toss together for 2-3 minutes, next add the snow peas and scallions, cook for one minute. Finally add the sauce, stir to combine then add the rice noodles and ground pork. Stir together and top with the fresh pickled cucumbers and serve immediately.

Now I will say, the dish at Buddakan did not have as many veggies, but I needed more...

Crumbled pork with soy sauce, cooked with soy sauce

Stir-fry the veggies

This is the Asain Vinaigrette I use, it makes a great marinade for Salmon!

Cooked rice noodles, always rinse them with cold water as soon as you drain them or they will be sticky!

Combine, noodles, veggies, pork and sauce and toss, then top with....

My mom makes these fresh pickled cucumbers, if you make this dish... please use a good quality, not your typical store brand, it really makes a difference, just trust me!

I used the pickled cucumbers and sweet onions, it adds a surprising sweetness and a crunch, Yum!

 Even though it wasn't exactly the same as what we had it was very close and very good!

Weight Watcher Friends: This meal only has 8 points plus per serving. The recipe makes 6 servings.