Taiwan has some of the most beautiful landscapes, stellar night-time views, incredible scenery, and the most incredible and diverse street markets, filled with fresh produce, meats, seafood, and of course, food stalls! Dishes feature the epitome of freshness with some of the simplest ingredients. Some of the most concentrated flavors come from just a few ingredients. In their national dish, Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, the beef stock takes at least 24 hours to achieve the most concentrated flavors around.
I am taking classic Taiwanese soy sauce noodles and making a stir-fry version, along with beef and vegetables. With this approach, I am leaving YOU in charge of what types of vegetables and noodles you like to use for this recipe. If you keep this to one pound (453g), you will have the perfect ratio of noodles, beef, and vegetables.
The how-to video can be found on my Youtube channel.
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PLEASE NOTE: Common stir-fry vegetables are broccoli, carrots, onions, celery, Chinese celery, cabbage, bean sprouts, zucchini, summer squash, bell peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, bamboo, water chestnuts, etc.
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb (453g) Steak (blade, chuck, round, shoulder), medium diced
1lb (453g) Wheat noodles, your choice, par-cooked
1lb (453g) Stir-fry vegetables, your choice, bias cut or small thin cut
Kosher Salt White Pepper
Neutral oil
STIR-FRY BASE:
4oz Tamari/Soy Sauce
4oz Oyster sauce
4oz Rice Vinegar
1/4 C Ginger/Garlic, pureed 50/50
1/4 C Scallions, finely chopped
1 TB Chinese 5 spice
1 tsp White Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS: 1.) You must prep all of your ingredients ahead of time for this dish. Some vegetables benefit from a bias (angled) cut, like carrots, and celery. Be mindful of width as some vegetables require more time to cook than others. Send this to the stove area.
2.) In a separate mixing bowl, mix your stir-fry base ingredients, and send this to the stove area.
3.) Your beef should be evenly cut into either slices or diced. Remove any silverskin that you find. Send this to the stove area.
4.) Par-cook the wheat noodles for about two to three minutes less than package directions. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and send this back to the stove area.
5.) In a saute pan or wok on medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of neutral oil and lightly dust with kosher salt and white pepper. Begin sauteing your vegetables and toss them around to avoid burning. The process should be about three to four minutes, depending on the type of vegetable. This should be cooked to an al-dente or more for your liking. Remove from the pan.
6.) Add a little neutral oil, kosher salt, and white pepper to the pan. Continuing on medium-high heat, add your steak to the pan. This is going to be your judgment call on how you want your steak cooked. Our preference is medium-rare which can take about five minutes. Once your steak has cooked to your liking, remove it from the pan but, retain the pan juices.
7.) In the pan, add your stir-fry base. This should start immediately to bubble up. You will want to reduce this down by 25%-30%. Keep stirring this in the pan until the base starts to streak in the pan. This will take only a few minutes to reach so pay close attention. Once this streaks in the pan, begin adding your par-cooked noodles to the pan. Toss to coat. Cook for just a few minutes to let the sauce get absorbed, and the noodles come up to temp. Turn off the heat after about three minutes.
8.) Serve this in your favorite bowls. This will feed four people.
