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    Home » Recipes » Main Course

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)

    Published: Apr 8, 2018 • Modified: Sep 30, 2021 • Author: Joyce • 34 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    A classic Cantonese Beef Chow Fun Noodles recipe (aka Gon Chow Ngo Ho) made with fresh flat ho fun rice noodles and tender flavourful beef slices that is simple and quick to throw together so you can enjoy this any day of the week!

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun) in a metal bowl with a handkerchief on the side

    Beef chow fun is delicious with its chewy noodles and flavourful tender beef slices and it's so easy to sit down and finish off the whole thing yourself without even knowing it. Even though it is easy to find these at takeout joints, you can easily make this at home for yourself as well, just make sure you have a good non-stick pan/well-seasoned wok on hand.

    The hardest part about this beef chow fun at home is making the noodles just right so they are not shredded into tiny pieces or mushy. Fresh ho fun is a tricky ingredient to work with at first, but once you get used to using it, it can be an amazing noodle to use to get dinner on the table in minutes.

    When I first started making beef chow fun at home, I used to buy whatever fresh ho fun I could find and thought they were all the same, boy was I wrong. The key to having long strands of chewy ho fun noodles that can withstand stir-frying is buying the right type of ho fun noodles. 

     

    INGREDIENTS FOR BEEF CHOW FUN

    For this beef chow fun recipe, most of these ingredients can be found at your local Asian grocery store.

    For the beef, you can use flank steak or any type of steak as long as you cut the beef into thin slices against the grain.

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)

    If you can find it, try to use white onion. White onion is a lot sweeter and has a milder onion flavor so that when you flash fry it quickly and it's still semi-raw it will have a nice sweet crunch without that strong raw onion bite. If you can't find white onions, yellow onions work as well but cook them a bit more to remove the strong onion flavor.

     

    HOW TO PICK FRESH HO FUN

    When you are looking for fresh ho fun, we want to look for the fresh ho fun called "SA" ho fun which is for stir-frying. Sometimes it is written in English (like in the picture below) and sometimes it isn't and it will just say "ho fun" in English. I marked the Chinese word "SA" in a circle in the photo so you know what that word would look like in Chinese so you can reference it if you need to. 🙂

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)
    The word circled says 'sa'

    For any kind of stir-frying, try to stay away from the fresh ho funs noodles that are packed into a tiny bags (these are usually used for soup noodles), attempting to break up a solid brick of fresh ho fun noodles up will usually produce a very shredded and broken up noodle dish. You want to find ho fun that are either  sheets (that you can cut yourself) or pre-cut noodles and laid out lengthwise. If you can't find either of them you can use the dried flat rice noodles as well, just make sure it is wide and not the thin ones.

    I personally find the pre-cut fresh ho fun works best - even though separating the noodles is a bit of work.

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)

    PREPARE EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME BEFORE COOKING

    For this beef chow fun recipe, it is crucial to have everything prepared and on hand before heating up the wok/pan to start cooking this dish, this is because you need to work fast so that the noodles are cooked enough but not too cooked that it melts into the pan into a gloopy mess.

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)
    Cutting the beef slices against the grain will make the beef less tough and chewy

     

    PREPARING THE NOODLES FOR BEEF CHOW FUN

    This preparation step is pretty crucial to achieving evenly cooked noodles. When you are making this dish, you will be cooking it fast over high heat and noodles that are not separated will stick together and break up into small broken pieces so it's definitely worth the effort to separate them before you start cooking.

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)
    Fresh ho fun noodles softened via microwave and loosely broken up.

    To break up fresh ho fun, I use the microwave and nuke it for 1-2 minutes, in 30-second intervals. At the 1 minute mark, check if the noodles are soft and easy to separate by hand. Usually, the noodles on the outer edge of the plate will get soft first, move the soft noodles into the middle of the plate and nuke it for another 30-60 seconds until everything is soft. Let the noodles cool before completely before stir frying it.

    NON-STICK PAN OR A WELL SEASONED WOK WORKS BEST

    If you have ever made stir-fried fresh ho fun noodles, you will know that they can easily stick to frying pans and half your noodles will end up burnt and stuck on to the bottom of the pan. The best way to avoid this is to make sure you use a non-stick frying pan or a very well seasoned wok.

    LOOKING FOR MORE TAKEOUT RECIPES? TRY THESE!

    • Japchae (Stir-Fried Korean Glass Noodles)
    • Sweet and Sour Pork
    • Singapore Noodles
    • Crispy Cantonese Beef Chow Mein

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun) in a metal bowl with 2 plates of it being served and eaten

    Beef Chow Fun (Beef Ho Fun)

    A classic Cantonese Beef Chow Fun Noodles recipe (aka Gon Chow Ngo Ho) made with chewy flat ho fun rice noodles and tender flavourful beef slices that is simple and quick to throw together so you can enjoy this any day of the week!
    Print Pin Rate Save Recipe Saved!
    Course: Asian, Main, Noodles
    Cuisine: Cantonese, Chinese
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 5 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    4 Servings
    5 from 12 votes

    Recipe Notes

    • Try to use chopsticks instead of a spatula to toss and push the food around in the pan. Chopsticks are a bit more gentle and will help with keeping the noodles intact and not breaking it up into small pieces.
    • Non-stick pan or well seasoned wok is important for this recipe
    • If you are having a hard time cutting thin slices of beef, stick the beef in the freezer for 30-40 minutes and then try again. The firmness from it being frozen will make it easier to cut.
    • An alternative to microwaving the noodles to soften it, is to steam it.

    Ingredients
     

    • 300 g flank steak (or any type of steak, cut thinly against the grain)
    • 2-3 stalks green onion
    • ⅓ white onion
    • 750 g fresh sa ho fun noodles (1 package)
    • 2 handfuls bean sprouts (approx. 1 ¼ cups)

    Beef Marinade

    • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
    • ½ teaspoon dark soy
    • ½ tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine (or dry sherry)
    • 2 tablespoons water
    • ¼ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
    • ½ teaspoon corn starch (optional)

    Sauce

    • 5 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Preparation

    • Wash the bean sprouts and set aside
    • Cut ⅓ of a white onion into slices and set aside
    • Wash the green onions and cut off the root ends. Cut the green onions into 2-inch segments. For the thicker parts of the green onions (the white parts) cut those in half lengthwise as well so they are easier to cook and not chunky. Set aside
    • Slice the beef against the grain, and place it in a bowl with the marinating sauce. Mix well and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

    Prepare and Soften the Noodles

    • Place the fresh noodles on a plate and microwave it for 1-2 minutes in 30-40 second intervals. At the 1 minute mark, try to loosen up the noodles with your hands. The noodles on the outer edge of the plate usually will soften up first. Loosen the soft ones first, and then put them in the middle of the plate so the non-softened ones can be on the outer edge of the plate to have a chance to get soft.
    • Once the noodles are a little soft and separated, set them aside to cool completely before stir-frying.

    Making the Sauce

    • In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

    Putting It Together

    • Set the stove to high heat and add a bit of oil to a non-stick frying pan or well-seasoned wok.
    • Once the pan is hot, add in the beef and cook it for about 1-2 minute (No more than 2 minutes, you want the beef to be medium rare). Remove the beef from the pan and set aside for later
    • Clean out the frying pan/wok and add in a bit of oil. Once the oil is hot add in the white onion and cook for about 1 minute.
    • Then add in the noodles and the sauce mix at the same time and stir the noodles with the sauce. Use the sauce to soften up the noodles more, and keep moving the noodles around so it doesn't sit too long against the pan (else it might stick to it). Cook it for about 1-2 minutes or until it looks soft.
    • Throw in the bean sprouts and green onions and the cooked beef and quickly toss it into the noodles and turn off the heat.
    • Continue to toss everything together and let the bean sprouts and green onions cook with the residual heat from the pan
    • Remove from pan and enjoy! 🙂

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1Serving | Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 2492mg | Sugar: 4g

    *Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*

    Did you try this recipe?I'd love to hear from you! Let me know how it was and consider giving it a rating! Tag me on Instagram with @pupswithchopsticks to show me!
    Made with ♡ by Joyce | Pups with Chopsticks

    Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, while I appreciate the support - I would prefer you buy your items locally if possible to support your local shops (and chances are they are cheaper locally as well!) 🙂

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Debbie says

      March 06, 2021 at 4:16 pm

      5 stars
      Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! I love Asian food and anything with noodles so this hit every mark. Definitely saving it for future use. Thanks for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        March 25, 2021 at 12:32 pm

        Hi Debbie!
        So happy this turned out for you!! 🙂

        Reply
    2. Nadia says

      September 19, 2020 at 5:57 pm

      5 stars
      If I could give more than 5 stars I would! Made this a couple weeks back, the only difference is I used dried rice noodles instead of fresh, cause I couldn't find fresh at the time and it turned out just as amazing! It was an excellent dinner and leftovers made for an excellent lunch after a walk at the park! It is now one of my favourite recipes! Thank you for the recipe, can't wait to try out more of them 🙂

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        September 29, 2020 at 4:41 pm

        Hi Nadia!
        Wow thank you so much! I am super happy you liked it and you really made my day! I am super happy I can share and hope you had a fantastic walk in the park! Sounds like a lovely lunchtime! 🙂

        Reply
    3. Aki says

      June 28, 2020 at 6:20 am

      Loved it!! It's my 4th time to use this recipe!

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        July 03, 2020 at 2:28 pm

        Hi Aki,

        Yay! I'm so happy you liked this!! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Dollie M Salvador says

      May 25, 2020 at 8:03 pm

      5 stars
      You've done it again Joyce!!! Just got done with dinner, delicious! I have made 3 different recipes of yours and they are all better than the restaurants! We have a really nice Asian market here so it's easy to get the fresh noodles. Thanks again for sharing. We will be making this again

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        June 22, 2020 at 1:33 pm

        Hi Dollie,
        So happy you liked all the recipes! I'm always happy to share yummies to make in the comfort of our homes! 😀

        Reply
    5. Craig says

      March 28, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      5 stars
      I have tried this a couple Of times and on my third try BINGO it turned out great thank you for helping me make one of my favorite dishes.

      Reply
      • Joyce Lee says

        March 30, 2020 at 10:02 am

        Hi Craig!
        I'm so happy you liked this!
        Having our favorite dishes anytime in huge batches is wonderful! It's one of the reasons why I love cooking and sharing foods with everyone. 🙂

        Reply
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