Around the world in 80 dishes No. 43: Black bean orecchiette with spicy pork and broccoli

Ingredients to serve 4

1 large head broccoli
Ice cubes
Sea salt
225g dried orecchiette
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons fermented black beans
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 medium red onion, cut into 5mm dice
225ml dry white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
450g lean pork mince
1 teaspoon Korean red chilli flakes or other red chilli flakes, for garnish

Method

Separate the broccoli into florets. Cut off their long stems and square the stems so that they resemble elongated blocks. Alternatively, peel the stems. Cut the stems into 5mm pieces.

Fill a large bowl with water and add ice cubes. Bring abundant salted water to the boil in a tall, wide saucepan. Add the broccoli and blanch for 30 seconds, retrieve the broccoli with a large sieve and transfer it in the sieve to the iced water. When the broccoli is cold, lift the sieve and drain the broccoli. Transfer the broccoli to a plate.

Return the water in the pan to the boil. Add more ice cubes to the bowl, if needed. Add the pasta to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes until al dente. Retrieve the pasta with the sieve and transfer to the bowl. Reserve 125ml of the cooking water. When the pasta is cold, lift the sieve and drain the pasta.

Dry the pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, black beans, ginger and onions and sauté, stirring, for about 2 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the wine, deglaze the pan and simmer for about 2 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pork and sauté, breaking up the meat, for 6-8 minutes until just cooked through. Add the pasta and broccoli to the black-bean mixture and toss well. If the mixture seems dry, add the reserved cooking water.

Season again with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large serving bowl or platter, garnish with the chilli flakes, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Taken from 'Simple Asian One-Pot Meals' by Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm (Kyle Cathie, £16.99). Photograph by Antonis Achilleos