Step 1

Add all whole spices into a dry saute pan and toast on medium heat for 4-5 minutes until aromatic and the cumin seeds darken slightly. (Yes, all the spices are all different sized and do not toast at the same rate, so technically you should toast them all separately, but since we're doing such a small amount for each spice, it wouldn't make much sense! So I just toast everything together until the cumin seeds, the smallest spice, are done.)

Step 2

Place spices in a spice/coffee grinder and grind until fine. Add in ground spices and blitz quickly to mix. Keep in an airtight spice jar in a cool dry place.

Step 3

Mix pork belly with soy sauce and let sit while you prep other ingredients.

Step 4

Drain glass noodles from soaking water and cut them with scissors into 3 sections to shorten them. Tip: If you forget to soak the noodles, you can “speed soak” using the hottest tap water and they will soften in just 1-2 minutes.

Step 5

In a wok over medium high heat, add just a little bit of oil and once hot, add the pork belly and spread into one layer. Let the pork brown on one side, and then toss and cook until completely done. Remove pork from the wok, leaving any rendered fat in the pan.

Step 6

If using lean protein, you may need to add a little more oil to stir-fry the noodles. Keeping the heat off, add red curry paste, hung lay powder, and julienned ginger and mix the dry spices into the curry paste. Turn the heat on medium and keep stirring for a few mins until the paste is aromatic, deglazing with water or stock as needed if the paste sticks to the pan.

Step 7

Add firm vegetables and cook for a few minutes until they’re about half way done, adding a little stock from time to time as needed to keep things moist.

Step 8

Add glass noodles and about 1/4 cup of water or stock, fish sauce, sugar, and toss until noodles are fully cooked, 2-3 minutes.

Step 9

Once noodles are done, add the pork and leafy greens and toss just until the greens are wilted.

Step 10

Add lemongrass and lime leaves, toss briefly just to mix and turn off the heat.

Step 11

Serve with sticky rice or white rice. Enjoy!