How to make dry-fried beef rice noodles – a Hong Kong favourite to try at home
- Served everywhere from dai pai dong to fine-dining restaurants, this flavoursome dish is all about the noodles
- Fresh rice noodles beat the dried kind, even if they require a little more work to prepare them for cooking
Gon chow ngau ho – dry-fried beef rice noodles – is a beloved dish in Hong Kong, where you can find it anywhere from dai pai dongs to high-end restaurants. “Dry-fried” doesn’t mean the ingredients are cooked without liquid or oil; it’s just a term that differentiates this version of beef ho fun (rice noodles with beef) from another that is wetter and saucier.
Dry-fried beef rice noodles
In restaurants, chefs cook this dish in a large wok over an enormous gas fire. At home, where we use a smaller wok over a regular gas range, it’s important that you don’t cook too much at once – it’s best to stir-fry enough for a maximum of two people at a time, or the rice noodles will get soggy. Still, even using a household gas range, the ingredients take just a few minutes to cook.
Fresh rice noodles are different from dried rice noodles, which I don’t recommend for this dish. Fresh rice noodles are oiled and stacked before being sliced into strips (about 6cm-8cm wide). When you get them home, separate the stacked noodles into individual single-noodle strips while they are at room temperature; if you try to separate them after they have been refrigerated they will break apart.
If they were refrigerated when you bought them, and therefore hard, put the noodles – still in the plastic bag – in the microwave and zap for about 30 seconds before checking to see if they are soft enough, or, after squeezing out the air, tie the top of the bag so water can’t leak in, and submerge it in hot water until the noodles are soft, then separate them.
You don’t want to put the noodles directly into hot water, or they will become soggy. The noodles should also be pliable when you cook them, so, again, if necessary, warm them, in the bag, in the microwave or in hot water.
This dish is primarily about the noodles; the beef is there to flavour them. Because of that, I’ve used a fairly small amount of meat. If you like a beefier dish, double the amount of meat and the marinade ingredients. The cooking time should be about the same. Choose a tender cut of beef, such as sirloin, oyster blade or flank.
If you were to ask a Hongkonger what to serve with this, the chances are they would recommend the Yu Kwen Yick brand of chilli sauce. It’s worth seeking out – it’s delicious.