This is an all time family favorite and can be tweaked easily for vegan and non-vegan and it’s gluten free
Have you heard of spiralized veggies? Now, you can even find them in the grocery but they are super easy to spiralize yourself with a one time purchase of a spiralizer. I found mine using Amazon and for $39.00, it does a great job!!! Spiralizing a zucchini eliminates a potential pasta and it is so good, you won’t miss the pasta. This dish uses an assortment of Thai sauces and the fish sauce can be potent when cooking but the overall flavor is just right. (If you have ever had a Caesar salad with anchovy paste and then without, you actually miss those little fishy guys. The paste gives the flavor without too much flavor in one bite and it’s a flavor a Caesar needs. Trust me!!! I had a table side Caesar salad prepared and said no to the anchovies. The waiter said if I could taste the anchovies, he would buy my dinner. I wanted to taste those anchovies but alas, he had mashed them into a paste and I had to buy my own dinner. Lesson learned!!!) The sauces can be found in the Asian Food aisle of your favorite grocery and they last in the frig for months. Once you have them, this dish is easy to throw together. (Bottom line: do not discount this dish because of the smells of the sauces while assembling. They are unusual smells but I promise the end result will have you Oooing and Ahhing with every bite.)
This dinner is unique and I have yet to find anyone that doesn’t really like it. I get it as my number one repeat request from family and friends. Again, if you are lucky enough to get some leftovers, they are wonderful! ( I’ve only experienced this once in a hundred times of making it. )
Brown:
1 Tbl. coconut oil
8 oz. ground pork ( I use shrimp and throw in a pound of shrimp at the same time as Zucchini. It doesn’t take long to pink up and you know it’s done!)
2 small shallots
One clove garlic (minced)
Add to meat mixture:
1 Tbl. hoisin sauce
1 Tbl. soy sauce
½ Tbl. oyster sauce
1 Tbl. sriracha sauce
1 Tbl. sweet chili sauce
1 Tbl. fish sauce
Add:
1 red pepper , chopped
2 green onions (white and green parts included)
3-4 medium Zucchini
Cover and cook until noodles are soft and mixtures are blended
Just before serving: add 3 Tbl. fresh basil and stir and serve.
- Zucchini disappears as it cooks so at first it will seem like a lot of Zucchini but my family keeps adding a little more Zucchini every time we make it… Also, the size of Zucchini varies a lot.. I would easily say 4-6 cups of packed Zucchini for this dish.
- update: one time, my grocery was out of Zucchini so bought 3 packages of frozen Zucchini (super expensive) First of all, it was not nearly enough Zucchini and it was too mushy. This recipe really has to use fresh Zucchini and don’t overcook it!!!
- Helpful hint: Everything except the Zucchini goes together first ( exception, if you use shrimp) The zucchini is added last and I would spiralize one at a time and add it to the mixture, stirring it in before adding the remainder. The picture shows 3 larger medium Zucchini added to meat and sauces so you can see that it’s all pretty blended before adding the lid and letting it steam and get hot all the way through. Steam for approximately 10 minutes, stirring it half way through. This honestly is on my top 5 list for favorite recipes!!!!!!
