Black Bean Orecchiette with Spicy Pork and Broccoli

Sometimes I think that particular cookbook authors and I just aren't meant to be.  There are a few authors (and I hate to name names) whose recipes I have tried a few times and none of them really impressed me.  And then there is Ming Tsai, whose recipes I either tend to really enjoy, like his Crazy Chicken Rice Noodle Stir-Fry, or I tend to find mediocre at best.  I'm not sure why that is.  Maybe I'm just picking the wrong recipes because I have friends whose palates I trust who love Ming Tsai.  Clearly I am doing something wrong here.  Anyway, I saw Ming demonstrate this recipe on TV one morning while running on the treadmill.  And I thought "huh, we like orecchiette and spicy pork - we should make that."  So to celebrate having the day off today for President's Day I decided to go ahead and finally make the recipe.  I tried to convince Alex to sneak home for lunch (as a PhD student he doesn't get the day off), but when he couldn't make it, I decided to go ahead and make it for myself anyway. 

I just felt like the dish never really came together.  And calling it "spicy pork" is a total misnomer.  There is no heat to this dish whatsoever.  I even added more Korean chili flakes than the recipe called for (both mixed into the pasta and as a garnish on top), but there was still no heat.  To get some heat you might want to add some crushed red pepper flakes to the onion, garlic, and black bean mixture before adding the pork and then garnish the finished dish with the Korean chili flakes.  I know that I have a serious love of heat (and a higher tolerance than most people), but I really don't see how anyone could find this dish at all spicy.  I also wasn't sure that I liked the combination of flavors here - white wine and fermented black beans just didn't seem to go together at all.  I just felt like it was missing something (or maybe a lot of things).  Like I started cooking and then omitted a few key ingredients/steps but decided to eat the dish anyway.  Oh and I adapted the recipe to go from a one pot meal to a two pot meal because I thought it was stupid to use a pot and wash the pot just to use it again.  If you're going to have to wash the pot twice, might as well use two pots and watch each one once.  In this instance you're not cutting down on the amount of work by using one pan so why bother?  Actually, if you follow the instructions for making a one pot meal, you actually use more dishes than by just using the two pots.

Recipe after the jump!

Black Bean Orecchiette with Spicy Pork and Broccoli

Adapted from Simply Ming One-Pot Meals

By Ming Tsai

INGREDIENTS:

1 large head broccoli

Kosher salt

8 oz orecchiette

2 tbsp evoo, plus additional for drizzling

1 tbsp garlic, minced

2 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 cup red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice

1 cup dry white wine

3/4 lb ground pork

1/2 cup of reserved cooking liquid from pasta/broccoli

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp Korean chile pepper flakes, plus additional for garnish (if desired)

Trim broccoli into 1-inch florets.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli and blanch for 30 seconds, retrieve the broccoli with a large strainer, and transfer it in the strainer to an ice bath (a bowl full of cold water and ice cubes).

Return the water in the pot to a boil. Add the pasta to the pot and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Retrieve the pasta with a strainer and drain. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.  If your strainer is large enough, drain the broccoli on top of the pasta and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat a large heavy-bottomed pot medium heat (I used a Le Creuset). Add the olive oil to the pot and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, black beans, ginger and onions and sauté, stirring, until the onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, deglaze the pan, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Season with s&p. Add the pork and sauté, breaking up the meat, until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the pasta and broccoli to the black-bean mixture and toss well. If the mixture seems dry, add some of the reserved cooking liquid. Season again with salt and pepper. Drizzle with evoo and season with Korean chili pepper flakes. 

Transfer to a large serving bowl or platter, garnish with additional chile pepper flakes and evoo, if desired.  Serve.