Beef Horfun (Flat Rice Noodles with Beef)

I am going to start blogging anew by posting a few dishes made before I left for Tuscany. One of them was Beef Horfun, a simple but tasty dish. Hubby prefers the version just with tiger prawns and beaten egg but that will have to be for another time.

The beef horfun comes in different versions e.g. dry-fry or with sauce (simple or bean) and the one I made was with bean sauce. I would have preferred the thicker flat rice noodles but couldn't find them here in Stuttgart so had to make do with the slimmer ones. I should also have been a little more hard-working and fry the rice noodles once over with dark soya sauce before using them for the dish but well, I was lazy.

Otherwise it wasn't complicated to make. First marinate for at least an hour 300g of beef slices (which I should have sliced thinner) with 2 Tbsps of Preserved Black and Brown Soy Beans, 1 Tbsp each of Oyster Sauce, Light Soya Sauce and Dark Soya Sauce. 2 Tbsps of Sherry, 1 Tsp of sugar, a touch of Sesame Oil, 1 Tsp of Corn Starch, salt and pepper.

Next, prepare 350ml of chicken or beef stock, a small cup of water with 2 Tsps of Corn Starch and 1 Tsp of Light Soy Sauce stirred in, another bowl with 2 beaten eggs (optional).

In a frying pan, brown 3 cloves of diced garlic, 2 sliced shallots, a small piece of ginger and a stalk of celery (peeled and sliced) in some vegetable oil. Add in half a red pepper (sliced). Depending on how you like your beef (we like it rare), add the meat with its marinade into the pan bearing in mind the amount of time you want it to stay in the pan. Stir fry and mix well with the garlic etc. Then add in the (preferably once-cooked with dark soya sauce) flat rice noodles, the chicken stock and the corn starch mixture. Stir well. If you wish to add the beaten egg, do so when the sauce starts to thicken. Serve hot with sliced red chilli and fresh coriander leaves.

PS : You could also remove the beef from the pan before adding in the rice noodles and then putting everything together just before serving to avoid over-cooking the beef.