That Asian Home Cook – Beef Noodles

To be honest, the only reason I know how to make this popular Malaysian beef noodle dish is because I was pining for its flavours. 

This type of food is typically eaten for dinner or supper (a meal after dinner which is very common for Asians). It is enjoyed in simple surroundings, while sitting under a zinc roof or in a hot and dingy coffee shop down a side street. It was often prepared by an uncle, preferably over charcoal with large flames curling around the wok he fired up to smoke a plate of these noodles. There are so many memories linked to this dish but I finally found a way to simplify it for myself. I think I have captured enough of the original flavours to make it drool-worthy for anyone. 

Ingredients

For the beef:

  • 250g beef sirloin cut into thin slices
  • ¼ tsp brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt 
  • ¼ tsp light soy sauce
  • ¼ tsp Chinese cooking wine 
  • ¼ tsp white pepper 
  • 1 tbsp cornflour

Noodles:

  • 120g of flat rice noodles 
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil 
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 

Sauce: 

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil 
  • 1 cup chicken stock 
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 10 thin slices of ginger 
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • ½ tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp slurry 
  • 1 cup spring onions
  • 2 cups Chinese cabbage chopped 
  • 2 large eggs 

Pickled chillies:

  • 2 green or yellow chillies 
  • 1 cup hot water water 
  • 1 cup white vinegar 
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar

Slurry: 

  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tbsp room temperature water 

Instructions 

There are a few steps to this dish that require your undivided attention. First let’s begin with the beef, the heart of this dish. 

Slice the beef thinly and marinate with salt, sugar, light soy, Chinese wine and corn flour. Let this rest for at least an hour while you work on the noodles. You can also marinate overnight. 

Bring the water to the boil and lightly blanch your flat rice noodles. There should still be a little bite to the noodles. Heat your wok with some oil and then add your noodles in. Mix your dark soy into the noodles and stir to coat evenly. You will notice the colour of your noodles taking on the darkness and caramelising at the edges from the sugar of the soy. Remove from the wok and set aside on your plate. 

Now heat your wok again with vegetable oil, add the ginger and garlic and fry until golden brown. Add your beef, stir-frying for around 5–6 minutes. 

Add the oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce and brown sugar, stirring for a few more minutes. 

Then the chicken stock goes in, bringing it to the boil. Now your vegetables can be added to the mix. 

Once slightly wilted, add your slurry. You need to keep stirring until your broth thickens. This will happen very quickly – in a matter of seconds. Switch off your wok and crack two eggs, stirring very quickly to create an ‘egg drop’ where the eggs split and form little ribbons of yellow and white in the gravy. 

Add your spring onions now and pour them all over your flat rice noodles to serve. 

Pickling chillies 

Pickled chillies are a very common condiment in Asian dishes. In this beef noodle recipe, pickled chillies are an absolute must-have, as the acidity and spice cut through the richness of the dish. Pickling chillies, my way is super easy. 

Bring water to the boil in a kettle and pour it over the chillies with white vinegar, salt and sugar (measurements above). Once the temperature cools, you can transfer the mixture to a glass jar with a snug lid and refrigerate. It’s really as simple as that! My pickled chillies keep in the fridge for up to two months. 

The slurry lowdown 

A slurry is a concoction that thickens your broth to make a sauce. I feel like I can say almost every other Southeast Asian dish I cook utilises this slurry. The great thing about a slurry is that it can turn even a simple chicken stock into a thick sauce to adorn your noodles or rice. It is super simple to make too. All you need to do is combine equal parts cornflour with room temperature water and stir quickly until the liquid thickens. You must use this slurry immediately otherwise, the flour will sink to the bottom. You can, of course, stir again to combine flour and water to bring it back to life. 

Cornflour is easily available here (farinha de milho) but, if you cannot find it, you can replace it with potato flour/starch. I have experimented using this slurry for Western dishes to thicken a sauce and it works amazingly too! 

Joy Entry is a Malaysian home cook based in Lagos who is obsessed with the provocative, unapologetic flavours of South-East Asian cuisine 

Instagram: @thatasianhomecook

joyentry@gmail.com 

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