Rice Noodles with Chinese Chives, Shrimp, and Pork

Name: Rice Noodles with Chinese Chives, Shrimp, and Pork
Yield: serves 2 or 3 as a main course, or 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other dishes
Ingredients: 1/2 pound medium dried flat rice noodles; 1 1/4 teaspoons sugar; 3 tablespoons fish sauce; 3 tablespoons water; 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil; 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped into pea-sized pieces; 1/3 pound ground pork, coarsely chopped to loosen; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon sugar; 1 pound Chinese chives, bottom 1/2 inch trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths; 2 or 3 limes, quartered

December 14, 2011

One summer when I was child, a family friend regularly gave us grocery bags full of Chinese chives (he) from her garden. The grassy foot-long chives are easy to grow from seed, and this woman must have had a bumper crop that year. We put the bounty to good use in this delicious noodle dish. No matter how many times it appeared on the dinner table, I never tired of the soft chives, hints of garlic, bits of shrimp and pork, and tart lime finish. Chinese chives are significantly larger than Western chives, and their flat leaves have a delicate garlic, rather than onion, flavor. In Chinese and Southeast Asian markets, they are typically sold in one-pound bundles. Vietnamese cooks treat them like a green vegetable, often cooking them with noodles. Here, their flat shape mixes perfectly with bánh pho. For a light meal, serve the noodles as the main course, pairing it with one of the special-event salads in chapter 1.

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