Beef Chow Fun

One of my favorite Chinese dishes growing up was Beef Chow Fun or rather beef stir fried with bean sprouts and haw fun (wide rice noodles). It was a great complement to a traditional Chinese lunch or dinner along with a steamed dish and some veggies (chinese broccoli, pea sprouts, etc). I could really not get enough of this dish, as well as the version made with more gravy (I'll try making that another time), and we used to order it every time we went out to eat (Not to mention it was also my sister's favorite dish!).

I'd come across many different recipes for Beef Chow Fun but they all came out much different than I was used to. Then I found a version in Grace Young's Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen and it came out amazingly. Not as greasy or as dark (probably the soy sauce I used) as in a restaurant, which was a plus, but it still had the same texture and flavor!

I always try to get fresh haw fun from the grocery store, I usually don't like using the dried haw fun and it never seems to come out right! Fresh haw fun should be cooked the day it's purchased, otherwise the noodles start to harden and will break apart on you in the wok.

Beef Chow Fun

Ingredients
8 ounces mung bean sprouts (I used closer to 6), rinsed and cleaned
2/3 - 3/4 lb beef flank steak, sliced
1/4 tsp baking soda
2-3 tbsp light soy sauce (or dark soy sauce, can use less)
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp ShaoHsing cooking wine
1 tbsp Chinese dried black beans (fermented dried black beans), rinsed and mashed
1 lb fresh rice noodles (haw fun)
3 tbsp canola oil
3-4 thin slices of ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, ends removed, cut into inch slices
2-3 tbsp oyster sauce

Method
1. Mix together the baking soda, 1 tbsp soy sauce, cornstarch, and rice wine. Add the beef, stir to combine and set aside.
2. Heat a wok over high heat until hot but not smoking (Good test is if a droplet of water evaporates in a couple seconds). Add 1 tbsp oil, the ginger, and garlic to the wok and stir fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add the beef and spread it out evenly in the wok, let cook for about a minute. Add the mashed black beans and stir fry for another couple minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
4. Add the rest of the oil with the noodles, spreading them out in the wok. Cook for about a minute and then add the bean sprouts. Stir fry for another couple minutes and add the rest of the soy sauce, toss to coat the noodles.
5. Add the beef back in, toss, then add the scallions and the oyster sauce.
6. Stir fry another couple minutes and serve.