The pork here is a weeknight-pantry-dive descendant of larb—a braised, ground meat salad originating in Laos and associated with Thailand—but is hardly what I would call faithful to its heritage. Truth be told, the meal as a whole doesn’t follow the rules of any specific cuisine, but rather pulls from the collection of ingredients I usually have on hand, and ones I hope you might too. The pork is aromatic with Chinese Five Spice, but only has a background heat. I find pairing heat with another aspect to balance is helpful to children, so alongside pickled chilies and kimchi, I offer slightly subtler condiments. First, mayonnaise with sriracha, where the fat of the former muffles the buzz of the latter. Then, I soak pitted dates in boiling water, blitz those with gochujang, a splash of fresh orange juice and sesame oil in a food processor until smooth.