Happy New Year and I hope everyone had a nice, safe, and relaxing holiday. And that all of the travel plans weren’t too much of a pain. And that you all ate a lot…I definitely did. I think there are studies that say the average American gains between 5-10 pounds been Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Then again, there are studies that say they only gain an average of 1 pound. Gotta love science, there’ll always be studies for and against something.
I’ve been getting pretty busy during the week these days and believe it or not, I’m running out of time to cook sometimes (unless I want to eat dinner at 10pm of course). So I’ve been getting creative. I’m trying to cook some things in about 30 minutes and other times when I get back late, eat leftovers and then cook something up that I can just heat up for lunch/dinner another day. I guess there’s also the instant boxed stuff, but that’s no fun =)
I wrote about a staple Chinese recipe, Beef Chow Fun, a while back…originally adapted from Grace Young’s Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen. I’ve been trying to come up with a few variations on the recipe, I found the original one a little bit greasy, and not enough of the saltier/soy flavor that I was used to. Then there’s the “gravy” version. It’s a similar recipe, only with a thick gravy sauce poured over top, delicious.
Beef Chow Fun
Serves 4
Time 30 minutes
Ingredients:
– 1.5 – 2 lb Fresh Wide Rice Noodles
– 1 lb Beef flank, sliced
– 1 Medium onion, chopped
– 4 stalks Scallions, chopped
– 1 small handful bean sprouts, rinsed
– 5 tsp soy sauce
– 1 – 2 tsp ShaoHsing Rice wine
Marinade:
– 2 tsp soy sauce
– 1 tsp corn starch
– 1/2 tsp sesame oil
– 1 tsp ShaoHsing rice wine
– Few grinds of white pepper
Method:
1. Marinate beef for about 10-20 minutes.
2. Heat wok/frying pan over high heat, swirl in 2 tbsp oil, stir-fry beef until just barely cooked. Set aside.
3. Clean pan, return to stove. Add 2-3 tbsp oil and the chopped onions and white parts of the scallions. Stir fry about a minute. Dash in the ShaoHsing rice wine.
4. Add in soy sauce, let bubble (20-30 seconds). Add in the noodles, stir-fry and combine.
5. Add beef back in, give a couple stirs.
6. Add green parts of scallions and bean sprouts. Stir fry another minute then serve.
[...] Beef Chow Fun [...]