Chinese Pork — Noodles -- The Table Is My Life, and Pork Is Always on It

Rosa engagement is all anyone can talk about. The Delgado-Ortiz group chat — which now includes Jenny and Carlos and will soon include James if David would just make it official — has been exploding with messages about venues and dates and colors and flowers. I have said one thing in the chat: I am making the food. This is not a suggestion. This is a constitutional amendment. Carmen Delgado-Ortiz will make the food at her daughter wedding and this is the hill I will die on and I have already selected the pernil shoulder and if anyone has a problem with this they can discuss it with the pernil.

Rosa called and said she wants a spring wedding. Spring 2019. I said, Rosa, that gives me eight months to prepare. She said, Mami, we have not even picked a venue. I said, The venue does not matter. The food matters. The venue holds people. The food feeds them. Tell me the number of guests and I will tell you the number of pasteles. She laughed. She sounded like me laughing. She IS me laughing. My daughter, my mirror, my loud girl with her loud laugh and her big heart, getting married in the spring to a man who eats beans with the reverence they deserve.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen of the present tense: I made pernil for Sunday dinner because Sunday requires pernil and Sundays in August are the Sundays that get you through the rest of the year. The table had sixteen people. Miguel Jr. and Jenny with Lucas. Rosa and Carlos, newly engaged, glowing. Sofia, who brought a friend from college. Mami, in her chair, watching the chaos with clear eyes — a good day, a present day, a day where she knew every name and every face and every complaint about the garlic. Eduardo at the other end of the table, steady, quiet, eating his pernil, being the structural love that holds the house up.

Mami looked at the table and she said something that I have written down and will keep forever. She said: This table is my life. Everything I ever did — every meal I cooked, every child I raised, every hurricane I survived — was for this table. I stood behind her and I put my hands on her shoulders and I felt her bones — smaller now, thinner, the bones of a woman who is getting lighter the way old women do, as if the body is practicing for the day it does not need to be here anymore. But today it is here. Today the bones hold. Today the table is full. Today is enough. Today is always enough.

The pernil for Rosa—s wedding is already spoken for in my heart, but a Sunday table with sixteen people does not wait for a party to need feeding. After that dinner, after Mami’s words settled into my chest like something holy, I kept thinking about pork — the way it carries a family, the way it shows up for every occasion big and small. This Chinese Pork ’n’ Noodles recipe became my weeknight answer to that same instinct: get the pork on the table, get the people fed, and let the rest of the evening take care of itself.

Chinese Pork ’n’ Noodles

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
• 8 oz lo mein noodles or spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (optional)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Sesame seeds, for garnish

Instructions

1. Cook the noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package directions until al dente. Drain, toss with 1 teaspoon sesame oil, and set aside.
2. Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce (if using), cornstarch, and water. Set aside.
3. Sear the pork. Heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Season pork strips lightly with salt and pepper. Add to the pan in a single layer and cook 2—3 minutes per side until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
4. Saute the vegetables. In the same skillet, add remaining sesame oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add cabbage and carrot and stir-fry 3—4 minutes until just tender.
5. Combine and finish. Return pork to the skillet. Pour sauce over everything and toss to coat. Add the cooked noodles and toss until heated through and evenly sauced, about 2 minutes.
6. Serve. Divide among bowls and top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 430 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 890mg