Saucy Beef Chow Ho Fun with Gravy (菜遠牛河)

A plate of saucy beef chow ho fun with gravy served on a metal plate

5 from 16 votes

Saucy Beef Chow Ho Fun with Gravy (菜遠牛河)

This saucy beef ho fun recipe (choy yeun ngau ho) stir fry is made with ho fun rice noodles, slices of beef, and vegetables and cooked in a delicious savory thick sauce made with oyster sauce and poured onto soft stir-fried ho fun noodles.

Prep Time20

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course, Noodles

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 1166kcal

Author: Joyce Lee

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!

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.

Nutrition