Dry Beef Hor Fun (干炒牛河)

I’m so excited to be sharing with you this recipe!! This dish is also widely known as Beef Chow Fun. At first, I wanted to make my usual Hor Fun with Gravy, but then I decided to change my mind and made this dry version of hor fun instead! The husband who said he wasn’t hungry took a bite, and could not stop eating after his first mouthful. In no time at all, his plate was wiped out clean! LOL!

My helper who has very limited cooking experience was able to pull this off by following the recipe. I have to say that I am really impressed! I cannot stress enough on the importance of getting all the ingredients ready and within reach before you start cooking. Especially for this dish. When the ingredients hits the hot hot wok, you have to move along pretty quickly. So there’s no time for you to prep other ingredients while you let the ones in the wok sit in the smoking heat. 

Many readers have asked how to get the wok hei, the only way to get it is to have extremely high heat or a screaming hot wok. My wok was starting to smoke, and a drop of water will dance and glide on the surface of the wok instead of evaporating immediately. That’s when the work is screaming hot, and that’s when I added oil to coat. However, it’s impossible to get the deep wok hei we all love when you order from hawker stalls. Because our home burner has a lower output as compared to the commercial/professional high output burners. 

Do remember to turn on your cooking hood to the highest and open some windows, because it’s going to get smoky in the kitchen.  It was really tough for me to take pictures because of the smoke, I had to blow and snap. Haha! The smoke travelled all the way out to my dining area! Oh, one important thing, when stir-frying on high heat, always use a wok not a non-stick cookware. A carbon steel, cast iron, or stainless steel wok. Do not use one that has a non-stick Teflon surface as high heat can damage that non-stick surface, and release unhealthy, potentially toxic vapours. Now, let’s get cooking!!

Update: Do not skip the step of marinating the beef if you want to get tender, velvety beef. Also a quick stir-fry is enough to cook the meat. Remember that you will return it to the wok later to heat it up. Over cooking will lead to tough pieces of meat. 

Dry Beef Hor Fun

Delishar

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Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 300 g flat rice noodles hor fun / kway teow
• 250 g Flank steak thinly sliced against the grain
• 2 handful of bean sprouts
• 5-6 slices of ginger
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
• 2 stalks spring onion cut into 2 inch pieces
• Cooking oil

Marinade for beef

• 1 tsp corn starch
• splash of water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• Dash of white pepper

Seasoning for noodles

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• splash of water
• White pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• In a bowl mix marinade for beef together, then marinate beef for at least 20-30 minutes.
• In a small bowl, add all the ingredients listed for seasoning for noodles, stir to combine.
• Using your fingers, toss loosen/separate hor fun/kway teow making sure the rice noodles are not sticking together.
• Heat wok on high heat until smoking point.
• Add 2 tbsp of cooking oil, and swirl to coat.
• Then add beef to sear, toss to sear the other side. About a minute or so, do not over-cook.
• Remove beef slices and set aside.
• Add another 2 tbsp oil, toss in onion, garlic, and ginger.
• Stir-fry for 20 seconds, and add bean sprouts to stir-fry for another 30 seconds.
• Then add rice noodles, give it a quick toss.
• Pour in noodle seasoning, and toss to coat.
• Add beef, and spring onions, give it a quick toss, and remove from heat.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

*Please get all your ingredients ready and within reach before you start.
Do not rinse the rice noodles or attempt to soak it in water to remove the coating of grease. It is there to keep the noodles separated.
While stir-frying, do it in quick consistent movements. Letting the noodles or ingredients sit in the pan might result in clumpy and burnt noodles.