Beef chow fun

Beef chow fun is a staple Cantonese Hong Kong cuisine . This Beef chow fun, stir-fry dish of beef and noodle,  consists of tender, succulent beef slices; soft, springy rice noodles; crispy beansprouts and aromatic Chinese chives. The Beef chow fun, known as gon chow ngau huo “干炒牛河” literally means “Dry fried beef and  noodle (ho fun)  in Cantonese.

Ho fun (河粉) is a Chinese wide flat rice noodle, aparticular type of rice noodles similar to the Vietnamese Phở rice noodles. The main ingredient of this dish Ho fun noodles, which is also known as Shahe fen (in Madarin 沙河粉), originating in the township  of Shahe (沙河) in Guangzhou. It is a wide, flat noodle that is cut into a bit, short wide flat shape.

The most common methods of cooking Ho fun are in soup or stir fried. Ho fun can be dry-fried (fried without sauce) or wet-fried (fried with a sauce). As it suggests, the dry fied variant should look dry. That is to say, there shouldn’t be any excessive oil or sauce left on the plate when finished.

Sliced beef is marinated first. Then, the beef is seared in a wok. Other ingredients and the Ho fun noodles are added, then combined with the beef and sauce ( a litle liquid substance from shortly stir fry in wok and soy sauce) . The bean sprouts are then stir-fried with the rest of the chow fun until they are tender and the dish is ready to serve.

The cooking must be done over a high flame and the stirring must be done quickly. Not only must the Ho fun be stirred quickly, it must not be handled too strongly or it will break into pieces. The amount of oil also needs to be controlled very well; if not, the excess oil or dry texture will ruin the dish.Because of these factors, this dish is a major test for chefs in Cantonese cooking.