beef fried rice noodles

2 min read

In the perpetually heaving ‘kitchen’ of one of the tiniest ramshackle restaurants near our uncle Bak Yeh’s apartment in Guangzhou, huge plastic platefuls of the most brilliant ow ho fun is dished out to hungry locals. This lusciously dark rice noodle dish is a Cantonese lunchtime sta-ple, adored for its simplicity and smoky flavour. You will be surprised at how easy it is to whip up an authentic ow ho at home.

Serves 400g beef rump steak, sliced against the grain into thin st 600g dried wide rice noodles 8 spring onions 312 tsp vegetable oil 200g beansprouts for the marinade 14 tsp bicarbonate of soda tsp cornflour 12 tsp light soy sauce salt 14 tsp salt 12 tsp granulated sugar 14 tsp ground white pepper 1 tsp vegetable oil for the pre-mix seasoning 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 2 tsp salt tsp ground white pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 Mix the beef, marinade ingredients and 2 teaspoons water together in bowl, cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

2 Rinse the rice noodles under cold water to remove some of the starch, then put them in large mcor baking dish or tray with high sides and cover them completely with boiling. Soak for 10 min-utes then tip them into a colander. The noodles should be slightly softened but still firm.

3 Mix all the pre-mix seasoning ingredients with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl and set aside.

Slice the whites of the spring onions through lengthways, then cut both white and green parts into 5cm-long segments.

4 Heat 11/2 teaspoons oil in the wok over a high heat and stir-fry the beef until it is cooked right through with a golden crust on the outside, then remove it from the wok and set aside.

5 We suggest cooking the noodles in two batches for easier tossing. With the wok still on high heat, add 1 teaspoon oil and half of the beansprouts and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add half of the softened rice noodles and half of the pre-mix- seasoning, and use spatula to fold the seasoning into the noodles. Have a nibble on a noodle to check for softness-if it is too hard for your liking, keep sprin-kling cold water onto the noodles and toss until they soften. Add half of the cooked beef and half of the spring onions, and toss the noodles one more time to soften the spring onions. Repeat with the remaining half of the ingredients, then serve.