Supper Club: Rachel Allen’s healthy Asian-spiced sticky pork salad

We’ve recommended marinating the pork for 30 minutes, but if you can prepare a little more in advance and marinate for longer, you’ll be rewarded with a stronger flavour.

Asian-spiced sticky pork salad
Serves 6

Ingredients

For the salad

• 500g trimmed pork fillet
  
• 2 tsp five-spice powder
  
• 1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
  
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 stick lemongrass, trimmed (see Rachel Recommends) and finely sliced
• 2 mild red chillis, deseeded and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated or crushed
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 6 handfuls of salad leaves including some crunch like Cos leaves
• a large handful of mint, basil and coriander leaves
• 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, deseeded and sliced
• 4 spring onions, sliced thinly
• 50g salted peanuts, chopped roughly

For the Asian dressing

• 2 small birds eye chillis (red or green), finely sliced
• 1 large clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 4 tbsp lime juice
• 4 tbsp rice wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Cut the pork fillet into 1cm slices. Place in a bowl and toss with the five-spice powder, the fish sauce, the soy, the lemongrass, the chillis, the garlic, the chopped shallots and the brown sugar. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make the Asian dressing. Mix together the sliced chillis, the garlic and the caster sugar with the fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar and olive oil. Stir well or place in a jar with a lid and shake well. Set aside.
3. Place a large frying pan or wok on the heat and allow to get hot. Drain the pork but reserve the marinade for later. Drizzle 1 tbsp of the sunflower oil into the pan and once hot, arrange the drained pork in the base of the pan in a single layer (you might need to cook it in 2 batches).
4. Cook on either side for a couple of minutes until cooked and golden on the outside. Tip the reserved marinade into all the pork in the pan and cook uncovered, still over a high heat, until the marinade reduces to a thick sticky sauce.
5. While the pork is cooking, in a large bowl toss the salad leaves (torn if large) with the herbs and the sliced cucumber. Dress with some of the dressing and tip out onto a wide serving plate or shallow bowl.
6. Tip the pork with all the sauce over the top, tossing gently, then scatter over the sliced spring onions and the peanuts and serve right away.

Rachel Allen joined forces with Herbalife Nutrition to bring you exclusive recipes to work into your healthy lifestyle. Balanced, healthy and packed with protein and vitamins, these recipes are a great support for your health goals.