Say goodbye to takeouts and say hello to simple homemade beef wet chow fun in savory sauce. This is another version of the Traditional Chinese Beef Chow Fun, but the only difference is wet chow fun is coated with a thick savory sauce. The recipe requires marinated beef slices, the sauce mixture, fresh wide rice noodles, and your favorite vegetables.
All About Beef Wet Chow Fun
Beef chow fun is popularly known for its thin beef slices and fresh wide rice noodles. It is a staple Chinese dish where the beef slices are marinated and stir-fried with seasoned wide rice noodles. It is often mixed with vegetables, such as Chinese broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, Shanghai bok choy, and carrots, to name a few.
The special ingredient is the fresh wide rice noodles, also known as hor fun noodles and shahe fen. It is distinguishable for its wide and flat noodles that are commonly served in soup and stir-fried dishes. It can be enjoyed as dry-fried or wet-fried.
Chow fun wet vs dry
My traditional Chinese beef chow fun recipe is an example of a dry-fried ho fun, which is only flavored with spices and seasonings. On the contrary, this beef “wet” chow fun is a type of wet-fried hor fun recipe since it is drizzled with a thick savory sauce, almost like a gravy sauce. It is made to be slippery and saucy with a few pantry-friendly ingredients, such as shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cornstarch.
Alternatives And Suggestions For Beef Wet Chow Fun
The four main seasonings you will be needing for the marinade and sauce are shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cornstarch. These can be swapped or altered according to your preferences. If you need ingredient suggestions and alternatives, continue reading this section.
- Beef: Choose fresh beef cuts with minimal fat. It’s best to use a beef cut that you can cut thin slices easily, such as flank, sirloin, ribeye, bottom round, and top round. Thinly slice the beef against the grain. Thin beef slices are important in cooking the beef faster without burning.
- Shacha sauce: Shacha sauce is a Chinese condiment that is umami, briny, and slightly spicy. You can buy these in Asian stores, international sections of grocery stores, or on online markets like Amazon. This can be swapped with XO sauce or chili garlic sauce. Shacha sauce is incorporated into the marinade and sauce mixture.
- Dark and light soy sauce: Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce will be used for the marinade and sauce mixture. The dark soy sauce is also fried with the rice noodles for color and flavor. Light soy sauce imparts umami and salty flavors and can be swapped with tamari, liquid aminos, coconut aminos, or gluten-free soy sauce. You can swap dark soy sauce with more light soy sauce, oyster sauce, or hoisin sauce.
- Oyster sauce: Oyster sauce is another ingredient needed for the marinade. It adds a salty and sweet taste, similar to soy sauce and barbecue sauce. It also brings a hint of briny flavors. You can swap this with hoisin sauce, teriyaki sauce, kecap manis, Worcestershire sauce with soy sauce and sugar, oyster-flavored sauce, or fish sauce.
- Cornstarch: Adding cornstarch to the marinade gives the beef slices a crisp texture when cooked. Moreover, it also helps protect the beef slices from overcooking or burning. You will also use cornstarch to thicken the sauce mixture. Without cornstarch, the sauce will be too runny and not velvety and thick. If you don’t have cornstarch, use tapioca flour or potato starch. For 1 tbsp of cornstarch, substitute it with 2 tbsp of tapioca flour or 1 tbsp of potato starch.
- Oil: Oil for the marinade helps make the beef slices moist and prevent them from drying. You will also use a bit of oil for frying the rice noodles, vegetables, and beef slices. Use olive, avocado, sesame, or safflower oil for a healthier option. If you prefer a neutral-tasting oil, use peanut, soybean, or vegetable oil. For a hint of nutty sesame flavors, go for sesame oil.
- Fresh wide rice Noodles: Look for these in Asian stores or in the international section of grocery stores. You may see these noodles labeled as ho fun or 河粉 in Chinese and are half an inch wide. It is typically packed in plastic packaging in sheets for cutting or ready-cut noodles. If you can’t find fresh wide rice noodles, you can use other Asian rice noodles or dried rice noodles. Other thinner rice noodles will work but won’t be the same as ho fun with the wide flat noodle experience.
- Chinese broccoli: Chinese broccoli is also known as gai lan. It has dark green leaves and long thick stems. It is sweet, bitter, and earthy. Choose the freshest Chinese broccoli without yellow patches or damaged leaves. You can swap this with other similar vegetables like regular bok choy, Shanghai bok choy, and napa cabbage.
- Optional vegetables: If you want to add more variety and fiber, you can also use bean sprouts, scallions, shiitake mushrooms, and thinly sliced carrots. Fry these optional vegetables together with your Chinese broccoli.
- Optional flavoring ingredients: For an extra kick of flavor, add more flavoring ingredients, such as sesame seeds, sugar, white pepper, ginger, garlic, chili oil, and Shaoxing wine. Adjust the overall taste with salt and pepper.
Prepare These Main Ingredients And Kitchenware
Apart from a knife, chopping board, and mixing bowls, you only need one pan to prepare for frying the beef, noodles, and vegetables. If you have a wok, it’s even better in order to create the wok hei or “breath of the wok” effect. Here are the ingredients to prepare for:
Stir-fry ingredients
- 100g of Chinese broccoli
- 500g of fresh wide rice noodles
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, 1/2 for stir-frying ho fen, 1/2 for stir-frying Chinese broccoli, and 1/2 for stir-frying beef.
Marinated beef
- 200g of market-fresh beef
- 1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of oil
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- A bowl of water
Steps On How To Cook Beef Wet Chow Fun
It may be a lot of steps, but it is actually pretty easy to do them as long as you follow each step carefully. In a nutshell, the main steps are preparing the beef slices, making the sauce mixture, stir-frying the rice noodles, cooking the Chinese broccoli and beef, and combining all the ingredients. Watch the steps through my short tutorial video on Instagram or TikTok.
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1. Marinate the beef slices.
- Clean and cut the beef into thin slices.
- Season it with shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cornstarch. Mix well.
- Add a tablespoon of oil and let it marinate for 10 minutes or more.
2. Prepare the sauce mixture.
- Fill a bowl with water.
- Mix shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cornstarch in the bowl of water to create the sauce mixture. Stir until well combined.
3. Fry the wide rice noodles.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the fresh wide rice noodles. Gently separate the noodles to cook them evenly since these tend to stick. Do not over-stir the noodles as these break easily. You can flip and shake them instead.
- Add dark soy sauce and stir until well-coated. Set aside.
4. Cook the Chinese broccoli.
- Clean and chop the Chinese broccoli.
- Heat oil in the pan and sauté the Chinese broccoli until tender. Set aside.Do not overcook the vegetables to maintain their crisp texture.
5. Cook the marinated beef slices.
- In the same pan, cook the marinated beef slices until the color turns from pinkish flesh to brown. You can add a bit of oil to cook them.
- Cook the beef slices while stirring continuously until it is mostly done. Don‘t cook it completely to avoid overcooking since these will be cooked more with the other ingredients in the next steps.
6. Combine the cooked ingredients
- Once the beef slices are almost done, add the cooked Chinese broccoli to the pan with the beef.
- Pour the sauce mixture and let it simmer until it thickens. Give the sauce a good mix before adding it to the pan since the cornstarch tends to separate and settle at the bottom. If the sauce does not thicken, you can add cornstarch slurry gradually until you get your desired thickness. Make thecornstarch slurry with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Place the cooked rice noodles in a bowl and place the beef and Chinese broccoli sauce mix on top. Drizzle the rest of the sauce on top. Mix all the ingredients together while being careful not to break the noodles too much.
Beef Wet Chow Fun With Gravy
Ingredients
Stir-fry ingredients
- 100 g of Chinese broccoli
- 500 g of fresh wide rice noodles
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil 1/2 for stir-frying ho fen, 1/2 for stir-frying Chinese broccoli, and 1/2 for stir-frying beef.
Marinated beef
- 200 g of market-fresh beef
- 1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of oil
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch
- A bowl of water
Instructions
Marinate the beef slices.
- Clean and cut the beef into thin slices.
- Season it with shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cornstarch. Mix well.
- Add a tablespoon of oil and let it marinate for 10 minutes or more.
Prepare the sauce mixture.
- Fill a bowl with water.
- Mix shacha sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and cornstarch in the bowl of water to create the sauce mixture. Stir until well combined.
Fry the wide rice noodles.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the fresh wide rice noodles. Gently separate the noodles to cook them evenly since these tend to stick. Do not over-stir the noodles as these break easily. You can flip and shake them instead.
- Add dark soy sauce and stir until well-coated. Set aside.
Cook the Chinese broccoli.
- Clean and chop the Chinese broccoli.
- Heat oil in the pan and sauté the Chinese broccoli until tender. Set aside.Do not overcook the vegetables to maintain their crisp texture.
Cook the marinated beef slices.
- In the same pan, cook the marinated beef slices until the color turns from pinkish flesh to brown. You can add a bit of oil to cook them.
- Cook the beef slices while stirring continuously until it is mostly done. Don't cook it completely to avoid overcooking since these will be cooked more with the other ingredients in the next steps.
Combine the cooked ingredients
- Once the beef slices are almost done, add the cooked Chinese broccoli to the pan with the beef.
- Pour the sauce mixture and let it simmer until it thickens. Give the sauce a good mix before adding it to the pan since the cornstarch tends to separate and settle at the bottom. If the sauce does not thicken, you can add cornstarch slurry gradually until you get your desired thickness. Make thecornstarch slurry with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water.
- Place the cooked rice noodles in a bowl and place the beef and Chinese broccoli sauce mix on top. Drizzle the rest of the sauce on top. Mix all the ingredients together while being careful not to break the noodles too much.
