Beef chow mein – great mince/ground beef recipe
The beef mince version of everybody's favourite Chicken Chow Mein – great way to cook up ground beef with noodles. Economical and no meat chopping required, with plenty of hidden vegetables so it's a complete dinner
Ingredients
CHOW MEIN
- 200 g chow mein noodles or other thin yellow egg noodles or 3 ramen cakes
- 1½ tbsp canola oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 200 g beef mince / ground beef any fat %
- 3 green onion stems cut into 5cm/2″ lengths, white and green parts separated
- egg
- 2 Cups green cabbage finely sliced (or Chinese cabbage)
- 1 carrot peeled, cut into thin batons
- 1 Cup bean sprouts ~ 75g / 2 1/2 oz
CHOW MEIN SAUCE
- 1½ tbsp light soy sauce or all-purpose soy sauce
- 1½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 1½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 1½ tbsp Chinese cooking wine Shaoxing
- 1½ tsp white sugar
- ▢ Pinch white pepper
SAUCE THICKENER
- 1½ tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water
Instructions
- Sauce – Mix ingredients in a small bowl then set aside. Some is used to flavour the beef, then the rest for the noodles.
- Sauce thickener (cornflour slurry) – Mix the cornflour / cornstarch and water in a separate small bowl.
- Prepare noodles per packet directions then drain.
- Cook beef – Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat. Cook garlic for 10 seconds, then add the beef and cook until you can no longer see pink. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Sauce and the white part of the green onions. Cook for another 2 minutes to get the beef nicely caramelised.
- Finish sauce – Mix the cornflour slurry into the remaining sauce.
- Egg – Add the egg into the pan then mix it through the beef, it will sort of scramble. Egg makes the beef stick to the noodles better!
- Cabbage & carrot – When the egg is mostly cooked, add the carrot and cabbage. Cook for 1 minute until cabbage starts to wilt.
- Sauce & noodles – Give the sauce a quick mix. Add the bean sprouts, noodles and sauce into the pan. Toss well for 1 minute or until sauce is dispersed through the noodles. Add green part of green onions. Toss for another 1 minute.
- Serve – Divide between bowls and serve!
Notes
Noodles – Chow mein noodles are sort of dry and crinkly, rather than oily and straight like hokkien noodles, lo mein noodles. But this dish can really be made with any noodles – or even spaghetti (yes really, who’s going to know once tossed in chow mein sauce??). Use the same weight.
2. Soy sauce – Light soy sauce and all-purpose soy sauce add salt but doesn’t add much soy flavour or colour. The dark soy sauce stains the noodles a brown colour and adds soy flavour. It’s intense so you don’t need much!
3. Oyster sauce – Sweet and savoury, adds depth of flavour to an otherwise simple sauce. Sub with vegetarian oyster sauce (available in some large grocery stores and Asian stores these days) or Hoisin (different flavour with hint of five spice but similar savouriness and sauce thickness).
4. Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Asian noodles. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry.
Non alcoholic sub – sub both the cooking wine AND water with low sodium chicken broth/stock.
5. Keep beansprouts submerged in water in an airtight container in the fridge. Change the water every couple of days. This will extend the shelf life 3x. Also, here in Australia, bean sprouts at Asian stores are much better quality than ordinary grocery stores!
6. Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Will freeze fine but not ideal – noodles get a little soft.
Nutrition per serving. Serves 2 very generously – more like 2 1/2 servings
this recipe is sponsored by Mediterranean Supermarket