Taiwanese curry and beef stir-fry noodles, look closer, sometimes this dish is also listed on the menu from a beef noodles place, both the soup noodles and stir-fry noodles coexist nicely. I bet many tourists will go for the famous soup noodles, but the curried stir-fry version has its own huge base of local supporters, including me.
Taiwanese curry and beef stir-fry noodles 咖哩牛肉炒麵 -
Ingredients (about 4 portions)?
- 300 grams beef slices (I used Taiwan yellow cattle fillet slices)
- 750 grams yellow noodles 油麵
- 1 big bundle water spinach/hollow heart vegetable 空心菜
- 1 small onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3 stalks scallion
- 2 red chilies
- 3 tablespoons preferred cooking oil
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1/2 cup hot water
Marinade -
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine 米酒
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
How?
Slice the beef into bite size pieces. If using beef slices, perhaps cut the length in half. I actually used Taiwan yellow cattle fillet slices, hand-sliced too, which is pretty expensive but definitely worth the extra dollars.
Prepare a bowl with all the ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. Transfer beef pieces over and give it a nice massage. Let the meat marinate for 30 minutes.
Section the water spinach/hollow heart vegetable.
Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Peel and slice the onion. Destem and section the scallion. Destem and slice the red chilies diagonally.
Bring a big pot of water to a boil and add in the yellow noodles. Just a quick dip to remove excess oil on the noodles. Drain and set aside for later use.
You can also prep the noodles while the sauce is almost ready, that way you can drain and dump the noodles directly to the sauce mixture.
Use a big wok and drizzle 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Switch to medium high heat. You can use high heat instead if you can maneuver your way quickly enough in the kitchen, this will help getting more wok hei too. On the safer side, medium high heat can still yield a pretty delicious result.
Add in onion slices and scallion sections. Cook till slightly colored. Add in chopped garlic and red chilies. Cook for another 30 seconds or so, just be careful not to burn the garlic.
Add in 3 tablespoons of curry powder and give it a quick stir-fry. This will help drawing out the aroma from the spices.
I like my veggies on the softer side, so I add the water spinach early on. Also there're usually some water remains inside the hollow stems, which is fine, there's no need to fully drain out the liquid for this recipe.
By the way, if you like slightly cooked veggies instead, add the water spinach "after" the noodles have been blended in.
Back to my preferred way of cooking the veggies. After curry powder, add the water spinach and stir-fry for couple minutes. Check and see if the whole mixture appears too dry. If so, pour in 1/2 cup of hot water now and mix till evenly blended.
Transfer beef along with its marinade. Stir-fry till nearly cooked through.
Mix in drained noodles and evenly blending with all other ingredients. Time to introduce more seasonings now. Add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine, and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder. Mix and check on the noodles.
If the mixture appears too dry, add more hot water to dilute the sauce. Per my case, I didn't need to add more water this point on. Taste and adjust with extra seasonings if needed.
Plate and enjoy.
A few notes in the end, the yellow noodles used here is also called oil noodles. You can find it in Chinese or even Japanese grocery stores. You can use the noodles for Japanese yakisoba if that's easier to find.
As for the beef slices, I would guess it'll be very hard to source Taiwan yellow cattle in the United States. High quality beef slices will do. If you prefer a fuller bite, use thicker beef pieces intended for barbecue instead.
Other stir-fry noodles recipes:
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