Beef Chow Fun features wide rice noodles stir-fried in a delicious savory sauce, along with tender strips of beef, crunchy bean sprouts, and fresh green vegetables. This Cantonese classic is sure to be a hit at your dinner table!
Beef Chow Fun is a famous Cantonese stir-fried noodle dish. It is one of my favorite comfort foods. When I was living in Oregon, I would frequently order this dish as the flavors reminded me of home.
Extra wide rice noodles stir-fried in a savory soy sauce mixture, along with tender strips of beef, crunchy bean sprouts, and crisp baby bok choy. You will love the variety of textures in this dish, and not to mention, the amazing flavors! Beef Chow Fun is fried over very high heat to give it that “wok hei” (breath of the wok) essence.
What is Chow Fun Noodles?
Chow fun (wide rice noodles) is similar to the noodles used to make Pad Thai but they are much wider.
If fresh rice noodles are not easily accessible in your area, you can use dried wide rice noodles instead. If you are not able to find the wider noodles, you can use the thinner Pad Thai Noodles in a pinch.
How to Make Beef Chow Fun
If you are using dried noodles, soak the dried noodles in warm water for about 30 minutes, then drain them well using a colander.
Immediately after draining the noodles, pour about a tablespoon of cooking oil over the noodles, then use your fingers to coat the noodles in the oil. I recommend this step if you are using fresh noodles as well. The oil prevents the noodles from sticking together, making it much easier to stir-fry to coat each noodle evenly with the yummy sauce.
This recipe calls for 1 pound of fresh wide rice noodles or 8 oz of dried wide rice noodles.
Prepare the sauce by combining 3 tablespoons of Shaoxing wine, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and 3 dashes of ground white pepper.
Thinly slice 1/2 a pound of beef. Cut across the grain so the beef stays tender when cooked. Sirloin and flank steak are great options for this recipe, but you can use any type of cut. Some other really good options are skirt steak, eye of round, tri-tip and New York steak.
One awesome feature about stir-frying beef is that you can use lean, fairly inexpensive cuts and still end up with super-tender strips of beef.
Marinade the beef in 1 tablespoon of the prepared sauce and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before stir-frying.
Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
When your wok starts to smoke a little, add the beef strips to the wok. Allow them to sear for about 30 seconds before stir-frying the beef for only a few seconds more.
While the beef is still about half-way cooked, remove them from the wok and set aside. You don’t want the beef cooked all the way through just yet; you’ll finish cooking the beef towards the end. Removing the beef from the wok at this stage prevents them from being overcooked and too tough.
Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok, followed by 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and 4 baby bok choy (cut into half lengthwise).
Instead of bok choy, you may also wish to use kai lan, broccolini, or broccoli.
Give the vegetables a quick stir, then add about 1 tablespoon of water to the wok to help steam the vegetables.
Add one onion (medium-sized, sliced into approximately 1/4 inch slices) to the wok. Stir-fry until just before the onions soften.
Use your wok spatula to push the vegetables aside, then add the rice noodles to the wok. Turn up the heat to high. You’ll want your wok as hot as possible.
Give the sauce a quick stir, then pour all of the sauce over the noodles.
Stir well to distribute the sauce evenly throughout the noodles. Be careful not to overstir as this will break up all of those lovely long strands of noodles.
Return the beef to the wok, followed by 1 1/2 cups of fresh bean sprouts and 3 stalks of scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces.
Stir to combine all the ingredients in your Beef Chow Fun.
Transfer to a serving plate. Serve with chili oil if desired.
Enjoy!
Keep any leftover Beef Chow Fun in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing it.
You can reheat Chow Fun in the microwave for about 2 minutes, or stir-fry the noodles in your wok over high heat. The noodles will dry out after it is kept in the fridge so when reheating, I recommend sprinkling a splash of water (approx. 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon) over the noodles so that they soften up a bit.
Chow Fun is made with rice flour and are really thick in width, while Chow Fun is egg noodles so they are yellow in color and much thinner in width compared with chow fun.
Beef Chow Fun
Ingredients
Beef Chow Fun stir-fy:
- 1 lb fresh wide rice noodles or 8 oz dried
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil divided
- 1/2 lb beef sliced thinly. Recommended: sirloin
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 baby bok choy halved lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 medium onion sliced into 1/4 inch slices
- 1 1/2 cups fresh bean sprouts
- 3 stalks scallions cut into 1-inch pieces
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 dashes ground white pepper
Instructions
- Pour 1 tablespoons of cooking oil over the (drained) noodles. Use your fingers or a pair of tongs to coat the noodles in the oil.
- Prepare the sauce by combining Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, brown sugar, and ground white pepper.
- Marinate the beef in 1 tablespoon of the prepared sauce and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch for 15 minutes at room temperature.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the beef strips to the wok. Stir-fry the beef only until they are half-way cooked, then remove them from the wok.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok, followed by minced garlic and baby bok choy.
- Give the vegetables a quick stir, then add the water to help steam the bok choy.
- Add onion; stir fry till just before the onion softens.
- Add the rice noodles to the wok.
- Give the sauce a quick stir, then pour the sauce over the noodles. Stir well to distribute the sauce evenly throughout the noodles.
- Return the beef to the wok, then add bean sprouts and scallions.
- Transfer to serving dish.
- Enjoy!
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