Pork Stir-fry with Noodles (Lo Mein)
Source: Cook's Illustrated, September 2008

For a lo mein recipe with chewy noodles tossed in a salty-sweet sauce and accented with bits of smoky pork and still-crisp cabbage, we seared strips of meat from country-style pork ribs over high heat, adding liquid smoke for barbecue flavor. We used our meat marinade as a sauce base, with a little chicken broth and a teaspoon of cornstarch for added body. In the absence of lo mein noodles from an Asian market, we found that dried linguine worked beautifully in our stir-fried noodles recipe.

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
¼ teaspoon five-spice powder

1 lb. boneless country-style pork ribs, trimmed of surface fat and excess gristle and sliced crosswise into 1/8-inch pieces
¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
½ cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil
½ lb. shitake mushrooms, cut in halves or thirds (about 3 cups)
2 bunch scallions, whites thinly sliced and greens cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 small head Napa cabbage, halved and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips (about 4 cups)
4 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine (Shao-Xing) or dry sherry
12 ounces fresh Chinese noodles or 8 ounces dried linguini
1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce

Directions

1. Bring 6 quarts of water to boil in large pot for noodles.

2. Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin, sesame oil, and five-spice together in medium bowl. Place 3 tablespoons soy sauce mixture in large zipper-lock bag; add pork and liquid smoke, if using. Toss to combine; press out as much air as possible and seal bag. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. Whisk chicken broth and cornstarch into remaining soy sauce mixture in medium bowl. In separate bowl, mix garlic and ginger with 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil; set aside.

3. Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until light golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add scallions and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until scallions are wilted, 2 to 3 minutes longer; transfer vegetables to medium bowl. Add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and cabbage to now empty skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Clear center of skillet; add garlic-ginger mixture and cook, mashing mixture into pan, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir garlic mixture into cabbage; transfer to bowl with mushrooms and scallions. Wipe skillet clean with paper towels.

4. Return skillet to high heat, add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and heat until just smoking. Add half of pork in single layer, breaking up clumps. Cook without stirring, for 1 minute. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoon wine to skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until reduced and pork is well coated, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer pork to bowl with vegetables. Repeat with remaining 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and pork. Leaving second batch of pork in skillet, return pork-vegetable mixture and chicken broth-soy mixture to skillet; simmer until thickened and ingredients are well incorporated, 1 to 2 minutes.

5. While pork is cooking, stir noodles into boiling water. Cook, stirring constantly, until noodles are tender, 3 to 4 minutes for fresh Chinese noodles or 10 minutes for dried linguine. Drain noodles and transfer back to large pot; add cooked stir-fry mixture and chili sauce, tossing noodles constantly, until sauce coats noodles; serve immediately.

Notes
To imitate the intense heat provided by a wok, our preference is to make this recipe in a cast-iron skillet. If you have a large cast iron skillet use that in place of the nonstick skillet. Liquid smoke provides a flavor that resembles the char a hot wok would add to the pork and vegetables. To expedite preparation time, marinate the pork first and then chop the vegetables. When shopping for Chinese rice wine, look for one that is amber in color. If hoisin sauce is not available, substitute 1 tablespoon of sugar. It is important that the noodles be cooked at the last minute to avoid clumping. If boneless pork ribs are unavailable, substitute 1 1/2 pounds of bone-in country-style ribs. If country-style pork ribs are unavailable (bone-in or boneless) substitute pork tenderloin.