Beef Chow Fun (干炒牛河)

A close up for Chinese beef chow fun noodles in a metal bowl

4.90 from 28 votes

A classic Cantonese Beef Chow Fun Noodles recipe (aka Gon Chow Ngo Ho) made with fresh ho fun rice noodles and tender flavorful beef slices! Instructions on how to use dried rice noodles to mak are also included.

Prep Time15

Cook Time5

Total Time20

Course: Asian, Main, Noodles

Cuisine: Cantonese, Chinese

Servings: Servings

Calories: 471kcal

Author: Joyce Lee

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 ½ 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 cornstarch (optional)

Sauce

5 tablespoons light soy sauce (low sodium)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce (optional, for color)
1 teaspoon sugar

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.
(If You Are Using Dried Rice Noodles) Soak the dried wide rice noodles in hot water for 6-8 minutes until they are pliable and can be easily bent, then drain the water and set it aside.

Making the Sauce

In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and set aside.
(If You Are Using Dried Rice Noodles) - Add ¼ cup of water to the sauce mix.

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 marinated 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 that it doesn't stick to the pan.
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! :)

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.
A 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.
If you are using dried rice noodles, make sure you are buying the wide ones that are ½ inch wide. They may be labeled as 'banh pho' as well.
If you cannot find dark soy sauce, you can use regular soy sauce instead. The dark soy is what gives these noodles their dark signature color.
This recipe has been tested with 750g (approx. 1.5 lbs) of rice noodles. If you use any less noodles than that, the recipe will be very salty. So scale the sauce based on how the amount of noodles you are using. Also, keep in mind, the more bean sprouts you put in this dish, the less salty it will be as well.

Nutrition