Day 4: Pork Cutlets with Spicy Noodles
Our recipe today comes from an aspiring foodie in our fashion department, assistant editor Elinor Smith. Elinor does market work, helps with photo shoots, and writes fashion stories including some of the fashion daily finds on RealSimple.com.
Since I consider myself somewhat of a foodie (at the risk of offending "real" foodies), it was a no-brainer for me to jump on any opportunity having to do with eating and writing, like this one. The actual cooking part, though, was a bit more daunting since I still have a lot to learn when it comes to navigating my tiny Manhattan kitchen with ease and confidence. Luckily this recipe for Pork Cutlets with Spicy Noodles, like all of Real Simple's, makes food preparation, well, real simple—even for this 26-year-old NYC resident.
I made a quick trip to Whole Foods to gather the goods needed for my Pork Cutlets With Spicy Noodles recipe with two exceptions. The butcher didn't have pork cutlets (sigh), so he substituted them with the closest thing there—boneless pork chops. I also had to buy whole wheat udon since they didn't have regular. I lugged my grocery bags about eight blocks back to my apartment (probably the toughest part of the night) to start playing chef for my hungry roommate and her fiance.
Everything was coming together nicely, and I was impressing myself with how fast I was motoring through the slicing and measuring until...my eye started to itch. And naturally, I scratched it. Something you do not want to do after cutting and seeding a red jalapeno pepper. (Note: If you're as thoughtless as I am and happen to make the same mistake, douse your eye in milk. It does wonders to relieve the irritation—really!)
Despite my minor (ok, majorly painful) setback, the meal turned out to be delicious. The spicy noodles were indeed spicy, but not overwhelmingly so for our palates. The salty, flavorful pork also helped cut and complement the heat. If you do happen to be sensitive to fiery flavor, then I'd dial back the amount of jalapeno used. And a word about the pork itself: sensational. So much so that I would prepare it this way to eat with other sides, like cabbage and roasted potatoes. Other standouts included the meaty shiitake mushrooms that, to me, made the dish come together to be a well-balanced bowl of goodness.
All in all, this was a satisfying meal that gave me a sense of comfort, too—something that all cooks in any kitchen (tiny or not) need every once in a while.
Have you tried this recipe? Let us know how you liked it in the comments, and share your photos by following @RealSimpleFood on Twitter and using the hashtag #OctDinner.
