Pork & noodle salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

I am so very tired tonight. I really haven't been sleeping very well lately and it all does catch up with me after a while. Hopefully I will get some better sleep tonight. Although one night of decent sleep really doesn't make up for multiple nights of bad. So perhaps I should wish for a week of good sleep. 

I made this dish on the weekend. It was very loosely based on a Jamie Oliver recipe that I made quite some time ago. I had really enjoyed that recipe and had always wanted to make it again. I recently bought a large amount of meat from my local butcher including several kilos of Aussie style spare ribs which I think is really belly slices. I thawed some of those for this recipe. I also changed the base from rhubarb to pomegranate. The rhubarb in my garden is not producing and it is so expensive to buy. I had purchased a bottle of pomegranate juice recently to make a punch but ended up not making it so thought that it would be perfect for this dish. I was really pleased with how this turned out and this and Jamie's original recipe will definitely remain in my mind for making again in the future. 

Pork & noodle salad with pomegranate vinaigrette

For pork:

4 pork spare ribs, skin remove and cut into bite size pieces

100 mls pomegranate juice

1  - 2 tbsp chili garlic sauce 

1 inch piece ginger finely grated 

1 - 2 tbsp honey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl (glass/ceramic is probably best) and marinate, refrigerated, for at least 4 hours but overnight would be best. 

Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 - 2 tbsp peanut or grapeseed oil. Drain meat and cook in batches until cooked through and starting to caramelise. 

For noodle salad: 

200 g packet singapore noodles

1/2 cucumber, strips peeled, de-seeded & sliced 

1/2 red capsicum, de-seeded & thinly sliced 

1/2 red onion thinly slice 

Punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered (I had home grown) 

1/4 c chopped mint & parsley

Alfalfa sprouts (or whatever sprouts you fancy) 

Place noodles in a bowl and cover with hot water & stand for 5 - 10 minutes. Drain, refresh with cold water and then drain well. Combine with salad ingredients. 

For vinaigrette: 

1 tbsp pomegranate juice 

2 tbsp olive oil 

1/2 tsp mustard 

Mix all ingredient until nicely emulsified. 

Add pork to noodle salad ingredients and pour over dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately.