Growing up in Southern China there were stalls at nearly every street selling these aromatic & mouth watering wok fry noodles. In the evening chill, the wild flame under the wok and smell of soy sauce sizzling was irresistible.

This noodle dish is called ‘dry fried’ – the sauce is ‘sizzled up’ by the wok’s high heat or in Chinese, it is call ‘wok-chi’. The rice noodle is called ‘hor fun’ in Cantonese, ‘hor’ means rivers, ‘fun’ means noodles. The noodle is fresh, soft and comforting.

My version of the dry-fried noodles is as follows:

Ingredients

(to share)

• 200g beef fillet (I use flank), thinly sliced, rub with a pinch of salt and a little cooking oil
• 500g fresh rice noodle (available in Asian stores)
• 100g bean sprouts, washed, drained
• 10g garlic chive, cut to 2 cm length
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tsp dark soy sauce (or to taste)
• 3 tsp soy sauce (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil  (the noodles needs generous amount of oil)
• 10g coriander, roughly chopped, to garnish (optional)
• toasted sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

Method

• Heat up 1tbsp cooking oil In a wok, bring the oil to high heat; add beef, stir fry till brown; add 1 tsp soy sauce, 1tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil; toss and transfer the beef to a plate and set aside; at this point, the beef should be 90% cooked and should be fully cooked once rested for a few minutes.
• In the wok, add 1 tbsp cooking oil;  bring the oil to high heat; add the noodles & stir fry for 2-3 minutes or until hot; add 2 tsp soy sauce & 2 tsp of dark soy sauce; continue to stir fry until the noodles is aromatic; add the beef & toss; add bean sprouts, toss; add garlic chive, toss.
• Remove from heat; add coriander,  toss and serve
• Garnish with toasted sesame seeds (optional).