This saucy beef chow ho fun recipe (choy yeun ngau ho) is made with slices of beef, and vegetables which are cooked in a delicious savory thick sauce that is poured on top of stir-fried ho fun noodles.
What's the Difference Between Beef Chow Ho Fun with Gravy and Beef Chow Fun?
Beef Chow Ho Fun (choy yeun ngau ho) is a wet chow fun noodle dish. Its trademark is the thick and savory sauce that is poured on top of the stir-fried ho fun noodles. The sauce is cooked with Chinese vegetables (traditionally uses yu choy) and slices of beef, so it is a more comforting and hearty dish.
In short, it's basically beef chow fun with gravy!
Beef chow fun is a dried fried chow fun noodle dish (gon chow ngau ho) that is stir-fried with slices of beef, ho fun, onions, and bean sprouts with just soy sauce (and sometimes some cooking wine) to flavor the dish. There is no sauce to this dish at all and is the better known and more popular takeout dish.
Both beef chow fun and beef chow ho fun are delicious in their own way and both satisfy Chinese takeout cravings differently. I personally find the beef and vegetable stir fry with ho fun noodles a bit more comforting because of its sauciness! It's also a bit more forgiving and easier to make as well.
Why This is the Best Wet Chow Ho Fun Recipe
- Quick: No need to spend hours in the kitchen. This dish is a quick fix, perfect for those busy weeknights. Just marinate the beef slices, prepare the sauces, and you're ready to stir-fry!
- Family Favorite: This dish is a surefire hit with the whole family. The tender beef, the flavorful sauces, and the delicious texture of the noodles tick all the boxes for a comfort meal that everyone will love.
- Delicious: The beef is marinated to perfection, and the noodles soak up all the delicious sauces, making every bite absolutely delicious.
- Perfect Texture: The use of fresh rice noodles, stir-fried on high heat in a wok, gives this dish its unique texture. The noodles are soft yet maintain a slight chewiness that's just perfect.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Chow Ho Fun With Gravy
- Beef - I like to use flank steak for this ho fun recipe but any type of beef will do as long as you cut against the grain, which will keep the beef tender.
- Rice Noodles (Ho Fun) - Depending on availability, I will use both fresh sa ho fun, or dried rice noodles but traditionally this recipe uses fresh sa ho fun rice noodles. For more details about the noodles, keep reading the section below.
- Chinese Vegetable - Traditionally, yu choy is used for this recipe but you can substitute it with any type of choy like bok choy or gai lan as well. When you are shopping for choy, make sure the leaves are not yellow.
- Oyster Sauce - The oyster sauce is the main flavor for the sauce and should not be substituted.
- Toasted Sesame Oil - This will give the sauce an additional layer of flavor. It is also used in the beef marinade as well and I highly recommend you use it.
- Dark Soy Sauce - To give the sauce a darker brown color, I use dark soy sauce. This is optional, and you can definitely skip using it, the only difference would be a lighter color sauce.
- Chicken Broth - I use chicken broth to make the sauce but any type of broth will work (beef, vegetable, etc).
- Corn Starch Slurry - This is used to thicken the sauce. Alternatively, you can also use potato starch as well but you may need to use a bit more to get it to the same thick consistency.
Type of Ho Fun Rice Noodles (Fresh and Dried)
Traditionally, beef ho fun is made with fresh sa ho fun rice noodles.
Fresh ho fun comes in many forms, they can come in flat sheets that need to be manually cut, they can come in packages that are pre-cut or they can come in bags.
I do not recommend using the ones that come in a bag for any type of stir-fries. They are hard to separate by hand and are more suitable for noodle soups. You should never parboil fresh ho fun for stir-fries because it makes it mushy and unworkable.
The only way I was able to work with them in a stir fry was to steam the large chunk of ho fun ahead of time and slowly separate it and even then, it was still very messy and not worth the extra effort.
If you cannot find fresh sa ho fun, dried rice noodles are also a good option. Just make sure they are at least ½ inch wide. I actually find working with dried rice noodles a lot easier than fresh ho fun. It doesn't break as easily, so it keeps its long strands together better. There are a few extra steps needed if you are planning to use dried rice noodles but they are minor and not really a hassle.
How to Use Dried Rice Noodles for Beef Noodle Stir Fry
If you plan to use dried rice noodles, you will need to soak them in hot water (not boiling water) for 6 to 8 minutes until they are pliable and can be easily bent before you can use them.
You will also need to add ¼ cup of water to the wok while you are stir-frying it to reconstitute it some more so that the noodles are cooked all the way through and are softer.
How to Make Beef Chow Ho Fun with Gravy
Prepare the Beef
To get tender slices of beef, it's important to cut the beef against the grain and marinate the beef. For more details read on how to do this along with how to velvet beef, I have written a post called 'How to Make Beef Tender for Stir Fry' that you may be interested in.
To show you the difference, I have cut a slice of beef with the grain, which will create a tougher and chewier piece of beef, and a slice of beef I cut against the grain which will be much more tender.
Once you have sliced the beef, you want to marinate the beef slices.
Prepare the Vegetables, Ho Fun Rice Noodles, and Pre-make the Sauce
Before you can stir fry the noodles, you want to hand peel each strand of noodle to separate strands. To soften it to make it easier to peel, I will use the microwave at 1-minute intervals until the noodles are slightly softer and easier to work with.
If you are using dried noodles, you want to soak the noodles in hot water for about 6 minutes.
Wash the choy and cut it in half so that you have leaves and stems. Leaves cook much faster than the stems, so you want to keep them separated for the parboil step.
Pre-mix the sauce in a bowl, and the corn starch slurry in a separate bowl, and set these both aside for later.
Par-Boil the Vegetables
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add a bit of oil to it. Adding oil is optional but it will give the choy a nice glossy sheen after it has been cooked.
You want to cook the stems first since they take longer. Boil the stems for about 2 minutes, and then add the remainder of the choy (the leaves) into the pot and cook it for 20 seconds. Drain the choy and set it aside for later.
Stir Fry the Ho Fun Noodles
I like to cook the noodles before the beef first because I find that starting with a clean wok without residual beef marinade helps the noodles not stick to the pan.
Set the stove to medium-high heat to high heat and quickly stir fry the noodles with a lot of oil. Make sure you keep moving the noodles so they don't stick to themselves and the pan and don't be shy with the oil, it will help the noodles cook more quickly and it will prevent them from sticking too much.
I like to use chopsticks for this step and keep wiggling the noodles so that I don't break up the strands too much, with the occasional flip. You can also use a spatula to cook the noodles, but make sure you are only flipping it from the outer edges of the pan to the inside. You don't want to cut right into the noodles in the middle which will break up the strands. I stir fry it for about 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the noodles to a plate when they are done cooking.
Pre-Cook the Beef Slices
Add a bit more oil back into the wok and stir fry the beef slices until they are about 50% cooked. Don't worry you will cook it the rest of the way in the sauce.
Make the Sauce
Set the stove to medium heat and add the sauce. Re-mix the corn slurry (the starch may have settled to the bottom) and slowly pour it into the pan. Make sure you are constantly stirring the sauce quickly until it thickens or it will get clumpy.
Once the sauce is thick, add the choy and beef slices into the sauce and let it cook and mingle for 1-2 minutes. The choy and beef should release a bit of water to thin out the sauce a little bit.
Pour It Over the Ho Fun Noodles and Dig In!
Once the sauce is done, pour it over the noodles and dig in! I like to serve it with a bit of chili oil on the side.
Joyce’s Tips For Making the Best Chow Ho Fun With Gravy
- Choose Young, Tender Choy: When you are picking out choy, make sure you are buying young tender choy without any yellow leaves.
- Be Generous with Oil While Stir-Frying: Don't be shy with the oil when you are stir-frying the ho fun noodles. The oil will help prevent the noodles from sticking to each other and to the pan as well.
- Pre-Cook Your Beef: Cook the beef only 50% done the first time you stir fry it. It will cook the other 50% in the sauce. This will make a tender and juicier beef.
- Pre-Mix your Oyster Sauce: Oyster sauce doesn't mix evenly if it is added directly to a lot of liquid, so to prevent a clumpy oyster sauce make sure to pre-mix the oyster sauce with a few tablespoons of chicken broth to thin it out before mixing it with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
Recipe Variation Ideas for Chow Ho Fun
This delicious chow ho fun recipe is so flavorful and easy to make, you'll want to try out some of these delicious variations! Here are some great ideas:
- Spicy: If you're a fan of spicy food, this variation is for you. Simply add a teaspoon of chili flakes or a few slices of fresh chili during the stir-fry process. The heat will give your beef chow fun an exciting kick.
- Switch the Meat: For a different flavor, try using chicken or shrimp instead of beef. Just remember to slice the chicken thin and marinate it as you would the beef, or if using shrimp, clean and devein them before adding to the stir-fry.
- Extra Saucy: If you like your noodles saucy, double the 'sauce' and 'corn starch slurry' ingredients in the recipe.
- Try it with Onion: You can also make this with green peppers and white onions as well. Cook the white onion and green peppers right after you cook the beef and add everything back into the sauce when you cook the sauce.
Can I Make This Ahead of Time? Does It Store Well?
Unfortunately, fresh hofun doesn't store well and gets mushy the next day. The only workaround to it is to use dried rice noodles. Dried rice noodles have a lot more resilience in texture but keep in mind that if it sits in the sauce for too long, they will also get soggy as well.
It's best to eat this noodle dish right after you make it.
FAQs
Dry chow fun uses the technique of dried frying (gon chow). This technique uses a very hot wok with a little oil and frying the food quickly with minimal oil, hence the name dry fry (gon chow). Dry chow fun is cooked with this method, using just soy sauce so the noodles come out flavorful and dry (not saucy).
Wet chow fun on the other hand is chow fun that is stir-fried as well but is either cooked with gravy (sauce) or a sauce is poured on top. It's a wet chow fun dish with a lot of sauce.
Ho fun is a wide chewy noodle made of rice. It is usually found fresh in the refrigerated noodle section of Asian grocery stores but it can be substituted with dried rice noodles as well as long as it is ½ inch wide.
Ho fun is fresh rice noodles and chow fun is ho fun that has been stir-fried.
The word 'chow' literally translates to 'stir fry' and the word 'fun' literally translates to 'noodles' but there are many ways to say noodles (mein, fun, etc) and in this case, the word 'fun' is referring to ho fun.
The word ho fun is also used in dishes that use the ho fun noodles that are served in soups or stir-fried with gravy.
More Chinese Dishes You May Like
- Sweet and Sticky Char Siu (Chinese BBQ Pork)
- Crispy Cantonese Beef Chow Mein
- Beef Chow Fun (干炒牛河)
- Wonton Noodle Soup
- Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce (鱼香茄子)
- Singapore Noodles (Singapore Mei Fun)
- Garlic Chili Oil Noodles (10-Minute Recipe)
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Chinese Braised Beef Stew
- Easy Chinese Steamed Chicken Recipe
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Recipe Card
Saucy Beef Chow Ho Fun with Gravy (菜遠牛河)
Joyce's Recipe Notes
- When you are picking out choy, make sure you are buying young tender choy without any yellow leaves.
- If you like your noodles very sauce, double the 'Sauce' amount and the 'Corn Starch Slurry'. You may need to adjust the corn starch slurry to get it to a nice silky sauce consistency.
- Oyster sauce doesn't mix evenly if it is added directly to a lot of liquid, so to prevent a clumpy oyster sauce make sure to pre-mix the oyster sauce with a few tablespoons of chicken broth to thin it out before mixing it with the rest of the sauce ingredients.
- Don't be shy with the oil when you are stir-frying the ho fun noodles. The oil will help prevent the noodles from sticking to each other and to the pan as well.
- Cook the beef only 50% done the first time you stir fry it. It will cook the other 50% in the sauce. This will make a tender and juicier beef.
- Alternatively, you can also make this with green peppers and white onions as well. Cook the white onion and green peppers right after you cook the beef and add everything back into the sauce when you cook the sauce.
- Unfortunately, fresh ho fun doesn't store well and gets mushy the next day. The only workaround to it is to use dried rice noodles. Dried rice noodles have a lot more resilience in texture but keep in mind that if it sits in the sauce for too long, they will also get soggy as well. It's best to eat this noodle dish right after you make it.
Ingredients
- 750 g fresh sa ho fun noodles (or ½ inch wide dried wide rice noodles)
- 100 g yu choy (choy sum) (or bok choy/gai lan/Chinese pea sprouts, approx. 1 cup)
Beef Marinade
- 300 g flank steak (or any type of steak, thinly sliced against the grain)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- ½ tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine (or dry sherry or rice wine)
Sauce
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock (low sodium)
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons dark soy
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon oil
Corn Starch Slurry (To Thicken Sauce)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 ½ tablespoons water
Instructions
Prepare the Beef
- Thinly slice the beef against the grain approximately ⅛ inch thick and place it in a small bowl.
- Add all the beef marinade ingredients from the 'Beef Marinade' ingredient list with the beef slices and gently mix the ingredients by hand into the beef. Set aside to marinade.
Prepare the Chinese Vegetables
- Wash the choy until the water is clear and there is no more sand.
- Discard any yellow leaves and chop the choy in half. Keep the leaves and the stems separate and set them aside.
Prepare the Ho Fun Rice Noodles
- [If You Are Using Fresh Ho Fun Noodles]Remove the noodles from the packaging and place them on a plate. Microwave it for 1-minute intervals until it is soft. It will usually get softer on the outer edges first. Gently separate each noodle to separate strands, starting from the outer edges.The middle of the chunk of ho fun noodles might be cold and harder to separate, but that's okay, this process should be done in a few steps. Put it in the microwave again in 1-minute intervals until it is slightly softer.Set it aside for later.
- [If You Are Using Dried Rice Noodles]Soak the noodles in hot (not boiling) water for 6-8 minutes. Once the noodles are pliable and bendy, drain the water and set it aside for later.
Mix the Sauce and Corn Starch Slurry
- In a small bowl, mix the oyster sauce, with 2-3 tablespoons of chicken stock so that it thins out the oyster sauce. (Oyster sauce is difficult to evenly mix with liquids and will clump unless it is thinned out first)
- Once the oyster sauce has thinned out, you can mix the remainder of the chicken stock in the bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients under the 'Sauce' ingredient list. Set aside for later.
- In another small bowl, mix the corn starch and water together and set aside for later.
Par-boil the Chinese Vegetables
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add a bit of oil to the water. (Adding oil is optional, but it will give the choy a nice glossy sheen after it has been cooked)Boil the stems first for about 2 minutes first. Then add in the leaves and cook it for 20 seconds.Drain the choy and set it aside for later.
Stir Fry the Ho Fun Noodles
- Set the stove to medium-high to high heat and add oil to the wok or pan. Don't be shy with the oil, it will help the noodles cook better and prevent them from sticking to each other and the pan.
- Add the noodles in once the oil starts to smoke. Quickly cook the noodles for about 2-3 minutes until they are all soft.I like to use chopsticks to wiggle the noodles quickly to keep them moving and flip them a few times so that I don't break the noodle strands. Alternatively, you can also use a spatula, just make sure you are flipping the noodles from the outer edge of the pan to the middle. Don't cut right into the middle, which will cut your noodle strands.
- Transfer the noodles to a serving plate when they are done cooking.
- [If You are using Dried Rice Noodles]You will need to add about 3-4 tablespoons of water into the pan while you are stir-frying the noodles to reconstitute them and soften them further.
Pre-Cook the Beef Slices
- Add a bit more oil back into the pan. Once the oil is hot, add in the beef slices and stir fry them until they are about 50% cooked. Don't worry you will cook it the rest of the way in the sauce.
- Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside with the par-boiled choy for later
Make the Sauce
- Set the stove to medium heat and add the sauce to the pan.
- Once the sauce starts to simmer, re-mix the corn starch slurry in the bowl (the starch may have settled to the bottom).
- Add the corn starch slurry to the sauce and quickly stir the sauce until it thickens. It's important to keep stirring the sauce quickly until it is thick to prevent the sauce from clumping
- Once the sauce is thick, add the beef slices and choy into the sauce and let it cook for about 1-2 minutes. The choy and beef will release a bit of water which will thin out the sauce a little.
- Once the sauce is done, pour it over the noodles and dig in!
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is calculated using online tools and is an estimate*
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Cheryl L Friske says
The recipe card does not mention the addition of Chinese vegetables.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Cheryl!
You're absolutely right! I must have missed this.
Thank you for letting me know! I have updated the recipe card to inlude the Chinese veggies.
Thanh Ly says
Beef chow fun with gravy is one of my all time favorites. Never made it before until I came across this recipe. It was so good! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Thanh!
Yay! I'm so happy you liked it and it turned out for you! It's definitely one of my favorites too, I wished it was more popular! Now that I moved away from the city, I can't get it here at restaurants so I have to make it at home heehee, so I am very happy to be able to share this with you! 🙂
Kristine says
We loved this dish! Such a flavorful meal and quick enough for our busy nights. Thank you!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Kristine!
I'm very happy to share! I'm so happy everyone liked it!
Holley says
This dinner is just what I needed! Love the savory sauce and beef!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Holley!
I am so happy you liked it!
Aimee Mars says
Absolutely incredible and not a bite was left over. I loved the gravy!
Joyce Lee says
Hi Aimee!
So happy you liked it! I love making extra gravy and drowning my noodles in it haha!
Sue says
This beef looks insanely tender, I love your photos and can't wait to try it.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Sue!
I hope you enjoy it!
veenaazmanov says
Tempting Bowl of Yummy meal. Mouth melting Meat Feast of saucy Beef and perfect Noodle combination as a Happy Meal for my family. They to love this comfort food.
Joyce Lee says
Hi Veena!
It's one of my favorite comfort foods too