Noodles

Stir Fried Flat Rice Noodles with Beef

Ingredients:

-         500 grammes Flat Rice Noodles

-         250  grammes of beef, preferably NZ scotch fillet (Rib Eye in North America)

-         100 grammes bean sprouts

-         1 small onion

-         1 stem spring onion

-         Corriander to garnish

-         3 tablespoon cooking oil

Seasoning:

-         1/8 teaspoon caster sugar

-         ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt

-         1 teaspoon light soy sauce

-         1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

-         Ground pepper

-         Drops of sesame oil

-         1 teaspoon cooking oil

Sauce:

-         2 tablespoon dark soy sauce

-         1 tablespoon light soy sauce

-         1 ½ teaspoon liquid honey

-         1 table spoon oyster sauce

Method:

1.      Cut the beef into thin slices across the grain and mix them well with all the ingredients but the oil of the seasoning. Put the cooking oil last, mix well and put it to stand for 20 mins in the fridge.

2.      If you use fresh flat rice noodles, make sure you separate them into individual strands. It you bought rice noodles in rolls, cut them into1.5cm / ½ “ wide cross sections and unroll them to individual strands. If you are using dried flat rice noodles, read the instructions on the packet and prepare the noodles to be ready for stir frying. Set them aside

3.      Take the beef from the fridge. Rinse and drain the bean sprouts. Cut the onion into thin strips and the spring onion into 2 cm / 1” long sections. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce well in a small bowl.

4.      Heat the wok in high heat with the 3 tablespoon of oil, when the oil is very hot, put in the beef and give them a quick stir fry for about a minute or when the beef turns colour and 90% cooked. Turn off  the heat and take the beef out with a slotted spoon into another bowl and drain off excess oil.

5.      Scoop 1 tablespoon of oil from the oil remain in the wok and set aside. Turn the heat back on to medium, with the rest of the oil, fry the onion and white sections of the spring onions till the aroma comes out, then pour in the sauce and turn the heat back to high.

6.      When the sauce starts to bubble, add in the rice noodle and sautéed rigorously make sure you  turn all the noodles from bottom of the wok every time till all the noodles absorb all the sauce. Add the beef to the noodles, stir fry quickly for a minute and add in the bean sprout and the green sections of the spring onion. Sauteed for another half a minute and drizzle the 1 tablespoon of cooked oil you have set aside onto the top of the noodles.

7.      Transfer the noodles to a plate, garnish with coriander before serving.

Hint:

-         NZ Scotch fillet is quite tender and do not need to use any tenderiser. If other cut such as rump is used, you may need to add a 1/8  teaspoon of baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon of corn starch to tenderise them. The quantities are so small that they should not give any bad aftertaste to the meat. However, you could tenderise the beef with just the baking soda and corn starch for a couple of hours, then rinse them thoroughly under running water for a minute before drying them with paper towels and season them.

-         It is important to cut the beef against the grain, the meat cut that way is more tender. Besides, marinating the beef with a little cooking oil and fry them in very hot oil also will make the meat more tender.

-         You may worry that a large amount of oil is used in this dish. Do not drizzle the tablespoon of cooked oil back into the noodle before serving.

-         The way to rehydrate and par cook the dried rice noodles will be different from different brands, it is important to follow their instructions.

-         The action of stir fry has to be rigorous and turn the noodles from the bottom of the wok.  This is to prevent the noodles stick onto the bottom of the wok.