Zach Umstead, chef/owner of Randevoo Restaurant in Bethlehem, says his mother and both of his grandmothers were great cooks and that he learned a lot from them growing up. “In high school, I started making food for all my friends that would come over to our house—lunches and late-night snacks. They would then go back to their moms and ask them if they could recreate the things I was making them,” he laughs.
Right after high school, Umstead went on to culinary school in Pittsburgh, and at age 19 he moved to Colorado to do his externship at the base of Beaver Creek Resort. Over the course of 10 years, Umstead worked at several different fine dining restaurants. “This is where I got my foundation for cooking,” he says. But he started to miss his family and made the move back to the Lehigh Valley, where he started the Randevoo Food Truck in 2017. “I took a loan out and got the truck on Craigslist,” he shares. A relationship was born with Lost Tavern Brewing by taking the truck to their Hellertown brewery: “In 2020, they asked me if I wanted to do the food in their taproom on Main Street, Bethlehem.” Umstead said yes, and in August 2020, Randevoo Restaurant opened, offering a more expansive menu as well as sushi.
Here, he's sharing his recipe for Crispy Pork Belly Lo Mein. Umstead says it's funny how some dishes are born, including this one: “While working on the food truck, I decided to get us some lo mein noodles so we could make something different for us to eat while working that day. We cooked everything on the flat top, which enabled the noodles to get a slight crisp texture, used the pork belly from our pork belly steamed buns and, of course, Randvoo sweet chili, with some vegetables we had on the truck. It was amazing!”
Umstead says the key is the Randevoo sweet chili sauce (he grows all of the peppers to make it), which can be purchased at the restaurant. He recommends getting your noodles and vegetables from Irene at the Evergreen Oriental Market in Allentown. While you're there, Umstead suggests purchasing some fun stuff you've never seen before and to try cooking it at home. “Food is fun and sometimes fun is foreign to keep your taste buds on their toes,” he says. “Randevoo and try something new!”
An edamame appetizer and Lost Tavern's Randevoo DIPA (or any of their rotating IPAs) complete the meal, according to Umstead. But while he's giving you everything you need to make this at home, Umstead says it's probably easiest to just come enjoy it at the restaurant—“We do the dishes,” he laughs.
444 Main St., Bethlehem | 610.419.0086 | randevoorestaurant.com
Ingredients
- 1 lb. lo mein noodles
- 2 tsp. canola oil
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- 12 ounces braised pork belly, diced*
- ½ cup sliced water chestnuts
- ½ cup baby corn
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup shredded cabbage
- 2 ounces Randevoo sweet chili sauce (vegan)
- 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
- 4 green onions, sliced
*Randevoo uses a special pork belly recipe that consists of a five-day process. For those opting not to use pork belly, Umstead says you can substitute with any protein of your choice, like a pork loin chopped into ¼-inch cubes.
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Open noodle package and gently loosen the noodles apart from each other.
- When water boils, add noodles and stir so they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Let water come back up to a boil and cook for an additional two minutes. (“Don't overcook your noodles,” advises Umstead. “Cook them until they are nice and springy. Al dente to the tooth.”)
- Strain noodles and rinse with cold water; let drain. Toss noodles in 1 tsp. of canola oil and 1 tsp. of sesame oil.
- Set noodles aside.
- Put 1 tsp. canola oil in large wok or sauté pan on medium-high heat.
- Add pork belly pieces and cook until crispy all around for about three minutes.
- Add water chestnuts and baby corn. Sauté for one minute.
- Add noodles, let cook and get slightly crispy for three minutes.
- Add carrots and cabbage. Toss and let cook for one minute.
- Lastly, add the Randevoo sweet chili sauce and toss.
- Turn off heat. Plate into two “fancy” bowls.
- Garnish with sliced green onions and toasted sesame seeds.
Serves 2
Note: Randevoo can make this dish vegan using rice noodles and vegan fried chicken. “If you can use a vegan lo mein noodle, try that. And you can bulk this up with as many different fun vegetables as you want.”
Published as “Beyond the Menu” in the January 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
