Beef Chow Fun 乾炒牛河
By Michael · from our van kitchen
Beef chow fun is the dish I judge a Chinese restaurant by. Not every time, but whenever we try a new place, it’s one of the first things we order, because a restaurant that does a good beef chow fun usually does the rest of the menu pretty well too. It’s a staple, and it’s one of our favourites. So when we finally got a wok and a high-pressure propane burner for the van, this was the first dish I wanted to make.
I’ve made it twice on camera. The first time was at a campground near Tampa, Florida, the first night we ever used the wok. That’s the one this recipe follows: watch me make it. The second time was at Big Bone Lick in Kentucky, and that one taught me a few things too.
The secret to tender beef
The secret to really tender beef at Chinese restaurants is baking soda. A teaspoon or a little more, with cornstarch, light soy sauce and a splash of water, and then a tablespoon of oil at the end to lock it all in. In Kentucky I also added a splash of Shaoxing wine to the marinade and let it sit for about half an hour before cooking.
Fresh noodles are better
We could only find the dried flat rice noodles. We went to two different supermarkets in Tampa and neither had fresh ho fun. I think you’ll only find fresh ones in the bigger cities like New York or LA. The dried ones are firmer. They came out fine, not hard, but they had a bit of texture to them that you can taste. If we’d had fresh noodles it would have been better.
Be careful with the soak. In Kentucky I let them soak for around 20 minutes, and they came out too soft and broke apart in the wok. Maybe I soaked them too long, or the water was too hot.
How it turned out
That first night was not the ideal night to cook outside. It was windy, it was buggy, and by the time I was cooking it was dark. The noodles also stuck to the wok a bit, which makes me think I didn’t season it quite right. But the flame on that burner is intense, and you can taste it. The wok hei was the best part. The beef was tender, and it looked just like a legit beef chow fun. One verdict at the table was that it tasted like the old Wo Hop.
The second time, in Kentucky, I gave myself a 6 and a half out of 10. The sauce was on the lighter side, so it could have been a little more savoury and a little sweeter, and I tried canned bean sprouts, which are thin and have no crunch. Fresh bean sprouts from an Asian supermarket are thicker and crisper. The wok hei was still good, as usual.
My one tip: get everything cut, mixed and lined up next to the wok before you turn on the gas. Once the fire is going, the whole thing takes a couple of minutes, and there’s no time to go looking for the soy sauce.
Ingredients
Beef
- About 0.8 lb flank steak, sliced against the grain
- 1 tsp baking soda, plus a little more
- Cornstarch
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp oil, added last
Noodles
- About half a 1 lb pack of dried flat rice noodles (ho fun), or fresh if you can find them
- Hot water, for soaking
- A little oil
Aromatics and vegetables
- Green onions: tops cut about 1 inch long, whites cut small
- Ginger, a few thin slices
- Half an onion
- About 5 cloves garlic, minced
- Yellow chives, cut in short strips
- Bean sprouts
Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- About 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sugar, plus a little more to taste
- About 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder, dissolved in a little water
- A pinch of white pepper
- Cooking oil, for the wok
Steps
- Soak the dried flat rice noodles in hot water for about 3 to 5 minutes until they soften. Drain them well, then toss with a little oil so they don't stick together.
- Slice the flank steak into small slices, against the grain.
- Tenderize the beef: mix in the baking soda, cornstarch, light soy sauce and water. Add the tablespoon of oil at the end to lock in the flavours.
- Cut the aromatics: green onion tops about an inch long and the whites in small pieces, thin slices of ginger, half an onion, about five cloves of garlic minced, and the yellow chives in short strips.
- Mix the sauce in a small bowl: light soy, dark soy, oyster sauce, sugar, the chicken bouillon dissolved in a little water and a pinch of white pepper. Taste it, and add a little more sugar if it needs to be sweeter.
- Get everything laid out next to the wok before you light it. Once the fire is going, it all happens fast.
- Turn the burner all the way up, get the wok hot, add oil and stir-fry the beef. Lower the heat a little, then take the beef out and set it aside.
- Add a little more oil. Fry the garlic and ginger for 10 to 15 seconds, turn the heat back up, then add the onion and the green onion whites.
- Add the noodles and fry them so they soak up the aromatics.
- Add the bean sprouts, green onion tops and chives, put the beef back in and pour in the sauce. Turn the heat all the way up and toss for about 2 to 3 minutes, then plate it.
Amounts are what I said in the video. Where I didn't measure, it says "to taste". Cook it your way.
