Vietnamese Beef Stir-Fried Noodles Recipe
Beef stir-fried noodles is a dish that many people love, especially when they want to switch things up from daily rice meals. This dish is easy to enjoy as it combines beef with fresh vegetables like bok choy, carrots, onions, and tomatoes, making it light and refreshing without being too heavy.
Ingredients
- 3 packs of instant noodles
- 250g beef
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 bunch of bok choy
- 170g onion
- 100g carrot
- 1 garlic bulb (~8 cloves)
- A small piece of ginger
- Green onions, cilantro
- Seasonings: fish sauce, soy sauce, MSG, seasoning powder, salt, oyster sauce, sugar, ground pepper
Ingredient Notes
To make this dish, the beef must be tender, while the noodles should be chewy, crispy, and separate to create a delicious and appealing meal.
You can use any type of instant noodles for stir-frying, but Cookbeo often uses Hảo Hảo noodles because they are thin, crispy, and perfect for stir-frying. Besides instant noodles, you can also use spaghetti to stir-fry with the beef.
As for vegetables, you can use bok choy, spinach, mustard greens, or other greens. Generally, a variety of vegetables can be used for beef stir-fried noodles. If you don't use leafy greens, you can opt for broccoli, bell peppers, or simply celery and leeks, along with some onions. You can also add an egg for extra richness and color to the stir-fried noodles.
Instructions
Prepare the Ingredients
Preparing the beef:
After slicing the beef thinly, marinate it with seasoning before stir-frying to enhance its flavor.
For 300g of beef, marinate it with 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of MSG, 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce. To keep the beef tender and prevent it from releasing too much water during cooking, also add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and 2 teaspoons of cooking oil.
Preparing the other ingredients:
Finely chop the garlic and ginger to use later when stir-frying the beef and vegetables.
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into small wedges.
Trim the roots of the bok choy, remove any yellow or damaged leaves, and cut it into 5-6 cm (2-2.5 inches) sections. Rinse the bok choy in salted water and let it drain.
Peel the onion, rinse, and cut it into small wedges.
Peel the carrot, and either julienne it or slice it into thin flower-shaped pieces, depending on your preference.
Wash and chop the green onions and cilantro. Cut the white parts of the green onions into 3-4 cm (1.2-1.6 inches) sections, and coarsely chop the green parts and cilantro. If you want the stir-fried noodles to have a slightly spicy kick, you can use chili peppers, remove the seeds, and cut them into thin strips.
Finally, blanch the instant noodles. This should be done last, after all the other ingredients have been prepared. Blanching the noodles last ensures they don't dry out or stick together before stir-frying.
Open the instant noodle packs and place the noodles in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles to soak them. If you prefer crispy noodles, drain the water after about 15-20 seconds. If you like them softer, wait an additional 10-15 seconds before draining. Be careful not to soak the noodles too long, as they will continue to cook during stir-frying and could become too soft and mushy.
Drain the noodles completely, then use chopsticks to loosen the strands. At this stage, Cookbeo usually adds the oil packet from the instant noodles to the noodles and mixes it well to prevent them from sticking together. If you don't like the flavor of this oil or if it contains chili oil, you can substitute with cooking oil instead. Just add a little cooking oil, mix well, and separate the noodle strands.
Cooking the Beef Stir-Fried Noodles
To keep the beef tender and moist, without drying it out, stir-fry the beef separately and add it back in later, after the vegetables are cooked.
Heat a little more than 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add half of the garlic and ginger, and sauté until fragrant. Then add the beef and stir-fry it. Increase the heat and stir-fry the beef quickly until it's just cooked, changing from red to light pink. Then remove the beef from the pan and set it aside.
Next, add a little more than 2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the same pan, and sauté the remaining garlic and ginger. Then add the carrots, followed by the bok choy. Stir-fry over medium heat until the vegetables are just cooked, then add the tomatoes and stir-fry until they are just tender. Season the vegetables with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder and 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce to enhance their flavor.
After that, add the instant noodles and onions to the pan. Increase the heat, mix well, and adjust the seasoning with MSG, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and a bit of fish sauce. Adjust the amounts according to your taste. For this amount of ingredients, Cookbeo adds 1/2 teaspoon of MSG, 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of fish sauce.
Finally, after adjusting the seasoning, return the beef to the pan, and add the green onions and cilantro. You can sprinkle some ground pepper on top, mix everything well, and turn off the heat. Transfer the stir-fried noodles to a plate.
