Simple Chinese

There are only a few Chinese dishes I know how  to make.  One of them being stir-fried rice noodle with beef.  Luckily, it’s also one of my favourites.  I love rice noodle!  It’s so soft and smooth and goes down so easily!  This noodle dish is very simple.  The seasoning is mainly soy sauce and there are not that many ingredients: beef, onion, green onion, ginger, bean sprout and noodle.  It’s also quick to make.  The longest part (if you choose to do it) is taking the tails off the bean sprouts.  If you don’t want to do it yourself, just elicit your husband or any kids in the house.  It’ll keep them busy for awhile.

The most important part of this dish is getting the right beef.  Don’t be fooled into getting the “stir-fry” beef from your regular grocery store.  We made that mistake once; the beef was cut too thick and turned out tough and chewy.  Get the thinly sliced beef that’s used for hot pot or shabu-shabu, which is usually tender ribeye steak.

Good with a side of dumplings.

The only downfall of this dish is the lack of veggies.  You definitely can’t get your daily recommended serving from this dish.  But you can always just add some peppers or have some kimchi with it. =)

Recipe (adapted from Christine’s Recipes):

Ingredients:

• 50o g flat rice noodles
• 150 g beef
• 1/2 onion, shredded
• 120 g bean sprouts, trimmed
• shredded ginger, to taste
• 1 stalk green onion, chopped

Marinade:

• 2 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp corn flour/starch
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp water
• sesame oil, to taste (~1/4 tsp)

Seasoning:

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, or to taste
• salt, to taste (~1/4-1/2 tsp)
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Rinse beef and dry with paper towel.  Thinly slice across the grain.
2. Mix with marinade for 15 minutes.  Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
4. Place beef on a single layer and fry both sides, until they are 70% cooked.  Set aside.
5. Heat more oil in pan.
6. Add onion and stir fry until translucent and fragrant.  Be sure not to burn them.
7. Add ginger and bean sprouts.  When the bean sprouts are softened, push the onion and bean sprouts to the sides of pan if it’s big enough or transfer to a dish if your pan is too small.
8. Increase heat to high. Toss in flat noodles and stir fry until it’s heated up.
9. Add seasoning.
10. Toss noodle gently until noodle is separated and coated with seasoning.
11. Toss back the beef, onion and bean sprouts and combine.
12. Add spring onion and mix.
13. Serve hot.

Notes and Tips:

I usually use double the amount of beef and marinade.  I also use a whole small-medium onion and a few hand fulls of bean sprout – no need to be so precise.  I sometimes add red or orange pepper, which I cook along with the onion.  I also microwave the noodle 2-4 minutes until soft before adding to the pan.  I take the pan off the heat when I add the seasoning so that it doesn’t dry up as much and then return it to the heat after it’s mixed.

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