This is a great dish! It tastes fantastic, it’s easy to make, and it doesn’t require any “exotic” ingredients.
I found this one when searching for rice-noodle recipes online. I feel that I’ve exhausted all the good rice-noodle recipes from my Thai cookbook (Pad Thai, Pad Ki Mao, etc.), so this was a nice find from Bon Appetit magazine.
I’d never made or even seen collard greens before, and I was shocked at how big the leaves are. I guess I envisioned some frilly plant with smaller leaves, so seeing them in the store what quite a surprise.
If one could improve on this recipe, it would be to add a couple more tablespoons of peanut butter. It was good, as written, but you can never have too much peanut flavor in something like this.
What you’ll need:
- Kosher salt
- 12 oz. regular-width rice stick noodles (aim for wider ones)
- 0.25 cup smooth peanut butter
- 0.25 cup soy sauce
- 2T unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1T sugar
- 2t crushed red pepper flakes
- 1T vegetable oil
- 1 lb. ground pork
- 1 1.5” piece of ginger, peeled, then cut into matchsticks
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch collard greens, ribs and stems removed, leaves thinly sliced—a bunch is pretty inexact. Maybe shoot for 6-8 large leaves.
What to do:
Boil a lot of salted water in a large pot. Remove from heat and add the noodles, letting them sit (stirring occasionally) for about 4-5 minutes, until al dente. When ready, drain and rinse under cold water.
Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes, and 1 cup water in a medium bowl. It will look terrible, but trust me, it will taste great.
Cook the pork in a large frypan or wok, until cooked through. Be careful not to overcook it. Now, over medium heat, add the ginger and garlic, cooking until softened a bit (about 3 minutes). Add the collard greens and cook until barely wilted. Add the peanut butter sauce and the noodles (you may have to re-rinse them in case they’re stuck together) and bring the sauce to a simmer. Toss the noodles (tongs work great for this) and cook until the sauce is reduced and sticks to the noodles.
Serve hot.
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