Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles

I’m feeling good. My house is clean. Our trees are trimmed. My hair is brushed. There’s a 60% chance of rain tonight. This calls for champagne!

For the rain chances you guys, not my brushed hair.

Well, actually…..never mind.

Anyway, Matthew Collins came over today for round deux of the Great Food Shooting Campaign Celebration Event of 2011. It’s a totally legitimate, prestigious event that we made up in our heads. Today’s menu was inspired by an old Jamie Oliver episode that I streamed back in the winter. In the episode, he had a handful of jolly chums over and he prepared a most beautiful Thai Pork Salad, liberally seasoned with Chinese 5-spice, while showcasing fresh, bright herbs, spicy chiles, all wrapped around silky cellophane noodles. I like to live on the edge, so I changed it up a smidge by adding habanero peppers to the dish, instead of the 2 Thai bird chiles that his called for.

D.E.A.R. H.O.L.Y. H.O.T. M.A.M.A. O.M.G.W.H.A.T.

I have no regrets. A sprinkler system shooting Visine into my eyeballs maybe, but no regrets.

Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles:

What it takes for 4:

* 2 cups cellophane noodles

* 1 pound ground pork

* 2-3 Tbs. Chinese five-spice seasoning

* 3 cloves garlic, chopped

* 1 Tbs. fresh ginger root, minced

* 2 Tbs. brown sugar

* 1 cup plain peanuts, roughly chopped

* 4 scallions, finely sliced

* 2 cups loosely packed cilantro, chopped

* 1 cup loosely packed mint, chopped

* 1 habanero, minced (wear gloves!)

* 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced

* 1 jalapeno pepper, minced

* juice of 1 lime

* 1 Tbs. soy sauce

* 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil, divided

* 1/2 tsp coarse salt
Go ahead and soak the noodles in boiling water for a few minutes and drain. Reserve the noodles in a large bowl.

Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a pan over medium-high and start browning the pork. Once almost done, add the five-spice powder. Toss around for a second. Add the garlic, ginger, minced habanero, jalapeno, brown sugar, peanuts and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine and take off heat.

To the bowl with the noodles, add the mint, cilantro, scallions and red bell pepper. Add the browned pork mixture and toss to combine. Squeeze the lime juice over the mixture. Drizzle with soy sauce and remaining extra virgin olive oil.

Look at that. I know.

, , , ,

27 Responses to Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles

  1. Jenny July 29, 2011 at 1:02 am #
    Ok, this looks insanely good. Asian noodles anything I'm all over it. BUT NOT HOT PEPPERS FOR THIS MAMMA! No way!!! Good luck with the sprinkler system.
  2. Laura Hobbs July 29, 2011 at 3:11 am #
    Heck-To-The-Yes!
  3. foodies at home July 29, 2011 at 3:53 am #
    Glad it was a good day! Looks like it ended great with some spice!
  4. celeste July 29, 2011 at 4:24 pm #
    this looks like a fabulous new taste to add to our weekly mix! yum! I think i'll omit the habanero... hopefully with all the other spices and peppers it will still have flavor while allowing me to eat the next day! :) thanks for sharing!
    • Bev Weidner July 29, 2011 at 7:00 pm #
      Oh totally Celeste - leave out the habanero and you'll still have a LOT of flavor from the other peppers, herbs, etc. Thanks for dropping by!
  5. Terri @ that's some good cookin' July 29, 2011 at 7:03 pm #
    Ohhhhhhhhh....what am I going to do now????? I have to make this. Immediately.
  6. Jenny July 30, 2011 at 11:32 am #
    Great series of photos btw - Always critiquing aren't I? Your doing awesome with this new lens and approach. You will attract Cook book publishers with these photos. Keep up the Awesome job! :)
  7. Erin July 31, 2011 at 1:41 pm #
    we made this yesterday...OH. MY. it was delicious! we put a thai chili in instead of the habanero, and it had just the right amount of heat but tons of flavor! thanks for the recipe!
    • Bev Weidner July 31, 2011 at 6:28 pm #
      Awesome! So glad you made it!
  8. Morzhell August 21, 2011 at 1:51 am #
    Oh my god ! This-is-amazing - as good as in a thai restaurant ! Thanks a lot for this great recipe :-)
  9. Anonymous August 22, 2011 at 3:38 pm #
    This recipe looks great but what is a Chinese 5 spice?
    • Bev Weidner August 22, 2011 at 4:35 pm #
      Hello! It's a mix of ground cloves, anise seed, ground fennel seeds, black pepper and ground cinnamon. You can buy it premade, or create your own!
  10. Rachel B. September 19, 2011 at 11:40 pm #
    I just made this dish for dinner and it was SO GOOD! The whole family, even those who don't normally love Thai, could not stop talking about how great it was! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe!!!
  11. Topper September 20, 2011 at 9:46 pm #
    This looks great, except my butt would appreciate me leaving out the habanero. ;-)
  12. Cathy April 24, 2012 at 1:53 am #
    Just made it- so yummy! Bev cooks for life!
  13. Vi October 5, 2015 at 5:16 pm #
    This is my favorite dish to bring for potlucks now! So quick and easy. I'm a big fan!
  14. Elvie February 26, 2016 at 12:20 am #
    Just made it this afternoon and it was so good, love it. I will be making it always
  15. Emily @ Life on Food July 31, 2016 at 5:18 am #
    This looks amazing. Pinned and cannot wait to try.
  16. Trinity January 8, 2019 at 2:21 pm #
    Do you think I can do this but substitute ground beef?
  17. Genevieve Whittemore September 26, 2022 at 4:37 pm #
    a PRINT option would be nice
    • Bev Weidner September 27, 2022 at 7:07 am #
      Ahhhh yes! so sorry, this was a VERY old post, before I got the print option!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Asparagus Noodle Salad Recipe with Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette - Andrea Meyers - June 3, 2013 [...] Bev Cooks – Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles [...]
  2. Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles | A Social Worker's Personal Culinary Therapy... - July 6, 2015 […] have been wanting to try this Thai pork salad with cellophane noodles by Bev Cooks forever. But it is not a husband-friendly dish by any stretch. Well, it is not a MY […]
  3. The Stuff I Actually Make from Bev Cooks - Bev Cooks - July 27, 2016 […] Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles: I’m insanely obsessed with this meal. Normally I leave out the habanero pepper, but everything else is exactly the way the recipe reads. Seriously, we eat this at least once a month! It’s my lifeline. Final answer. […]
  4. Friday Favorites: 8-12-16 - Key Ingredients - August 12, 2016 […] Thai Pork Salad […]
  5. Meal Plan 2022 | Week of January 9th - Dinner with the Duffys - January 8, 2022 […] Wednesday, January 12th | Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles | Total Time: 30 minutes | Holy flavor!! Ground pork is mixed with Chinese 5 spice, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and jalapeno then tossed with cellophane noodles. This one is a keeper! Note: the recipe calls for habanero but I will be omitting it. […]
  6. The Best Ideas for Thai Glass Noodles Salad – Best Round Up Recipe Collections - April 20, 2023 […] Best Thai Glass Noodles Salad from Thai Pork Salad with Cellophane Noodles. Source Image: bevcooks.com. Visit this site for details: bevcooks.com […]

Leave a Reply