hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to classic Chinese comfort food dishes with a shot at a Cantonese crispy beef chow mein made using super thin Hong Kong style fresh egg noodles. A quick review for those not familiar, a traditional chow mein as we all know and love it by definition must include some form of fry to the noodle (chow translating to “fry”), not unlike how we made our Panda Express chow mein, Hot and Spicy chow mein, Tomato Beef chow mein, and a few others. If it does not include a fry to the noodles, then it would otherwise be a lo mein, which is a different dish all together.
So! To accomplish this for our version today, we’re going to be using a super thin Hong Kong style noodles made with a high content of egg, allowing for the noodle to puff up and fry very nicely in the wok. Bay Area locals may recognize this as the same type of noodle that we use for our crispy garlic noodles at the Woo Can Cook pop up. Finally to go along with all of this, we’ll also be assembling a crispy beef made using flank steak and a pinch of baking soda in a technique known as velveting, to help us tenderize what would otherwise be a pretty tough cut of meat without some fun food science trickery. Hope you try it. [**Follow the full video on youtube**](https://youtu.be/oyonruFsgx0) for the whole story too!
**Woo Can Cook** is a series where we reproduce fun foods and recipes from my childhood. Some of them are authentically Chinese and/or pan-Asian, but a lot of them are odd Americanized versions that I inherited from my parents and grandparents while growing up in the Bay Area/California.
**Homebase** (Recipes, Livestream Schedule, Music and more): [Woo Can Cook](https://WooCanCook.com)
**INGREDIENTS** – 4 cloves garlic – 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) fine minced ginger – 4 oz baby bok choy – 1/2 medium white onion – 1/2 bell pepper – 1 lb flank steak – 1 lb Hong Kong egg noodles – baking soda slurry (1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in water) – corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water) – peanut oil
**PREP** – CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside – FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside – SLICE the bok choy into strips, set aside – SLICE the bell pepper into strips, set aside – LARGE DICE the onion, set aside – SLICE the flank steak against the grain into strips, then combine with baking soda slurry for 15 minutes – RINSE off the steak, then combine with all marinade ingredients and let marinate for 20 minutes – COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
**ON THE STOVE** – BOIL 1 cup water in a wok, then add a steam basket and steam the noodles for 5 minutes – REMOVE the water, then reheat the wok over medium heat and add 1 cup peanut oil and long yao – ADD the noodles to the wok and fry for 2-3 minutes until crisp, then remove – REHEAT the wok over medium heat, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao – ADD the flank steak 20 pieces at a time and sear for 2 minutes undisturbed before tossing with the wok tilted downward for wok hei – REMOVE the steak, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao – ADD the garlic and ginger and saute for 15 seconds until fragrant – ADD the bell pepper and onion and toss to combine for 1 minute – ADD the bok choy and toss to combine for 2-3 minutes – ADD the beef back to the wok, followed by the sauce element plus 1/4 cup water – ADD the corn starch slurry and toss until a thick sauce forms – SERVE over crispy noodles
redrhino606
Looks great dude!! Always enjoy your videos!!
florida-raisin-bran
I guess my main problem with Woo Can Cook recipes is, who has:
– Shaoxing wine – Doubanjiang – Black vinegar
I don’t even really know what these are, or how to find them.
will2165
I always love seeing your videos
grain_delay
Any tips for cooking this hot without setting off my apartment fire alarms? 😵
hinman72
This looks great! Nice video and steps, this is very similar to a dish I would make at home.
6 Comments
hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to classic Chinese comfort food dishes with a shot at a Cantonese crispy beef chow mein made using super thin Hong Kong style fresh egg noodles. A quick review for those not familiar, a traditional chow mein as we all know and love it by definition must include some form of fry to the noodle (chow translating to “fry”), not unlike how we made our Panda Express chow mein, Hot and Spicy chow mein, Tomato Beef chow mein, and a few others. If it does not include a fry to the noodles, then it would otherwise be a lo mein, which is a different dish all together.
So! To accomplish this for our version today, we’re going to be using a super thin Hong Kong style noodles made with a high content of egg, allowing for the noodle to puff up and fry very nicely in the wok. Bay Area locals may recognize this as the same type of noodle that we use for our crispy garlic noodles at the Woo Can Cook pop up. Finally to go along with all of this, we’ll also be assembling a crispy beef made using flank steak and a pinch of baking soda in a technique known as velveting, to help us tenderize what would otherwise be a pretty tough cut of meat without some fun food science trickery. Hope you try it. [**Follow the full video on youtube**](https://youtu.be/oyonruFsgx0) for the whole story too!
**Woo Can Cook** is a series where we reproduce fun foods and recipes from my childhood. Some of them are authentically Chinese and/or pan-Asian, but a lot of them are odd Americanized versions that I inherited from my parents and grandparents while growing up in the Bay Area/California.
**Homebase** (Recipes, Livestream Schedule, Music and more): [Woo Can Cook](https://WooCanCook.com)
**Recipes**: [Woo Can Cook (Youtube)](https://youtube.com/woocancook?sub_confirmation=1)
**Music**: [Woo Cooks Beats (Lofi Beats to Cook to)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9McCfCIkWtc&list=PL72dM3fKnbHupDC0cIOHxaHBvjZLY3TdT&index=13)
**Woo Can Cook Fried Rice Pop Up (Every Thurs-Sun @ Wondrous Brewing!)**: https://WooCanCook.com/eats
**TikTok** (short recipes and Woo Cooks Beats): [Woo Can Cook](https://www.tiktok.com/@woocancook)
**Instagram** (pop-up schedule, music, and random Taki cameos): [@woocancook](https://instagram.com/WooCanCook)
**RECIPE**
https://woocancook.com/crispy-beef-noodles
**INGREDIENTS**
– 4 cloves garlic
– 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) fine minced ginger
– 4 oz baby bok choy
– 1/2 medium white onion
– 1/2 bell pepper
– 1 lb flank steak
– 1 lb Hong Kong egg noodles
– baking soda slurry (1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in water)
– corn starch slurry (2 tbsp corn starch dissolved in water)
– peanut oil
**INGREDIENTS (sauce)**
– 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
– 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
– 1 tbsp doubanjiang
– 1 tbsp black vinegar
– 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
– 1 tbsp oyster sauce
**INGREDIENTS (marinade)**
– 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
– 1/2 tsp white pepper
– 1/2 tsp corn starch
**PREP**
– CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
– FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
– SLICE the bok choy into strips, set aside
– SLICE the bell pepper into strips, set aside
– LARGE DICE the onion, set aside
– SLICE the flank steak against the grain into strips, then combine with baking soda slurry for 15 minutes
– RINSE off the steak, then combine with all marinade ingredients and let marinate for 20 minutes
– COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
**ON THE STOVE**
– BOIL 1 cup water in a wok, then add a steam basket and steam the noodles for 5 minutes
– REMOVE the water, then reheat the wok over medium heat and add 1 cup peanut oil and long yao
– ADD the noodles to the wok and fry for 2-3 minutes until crisp, then remove
– REHEAT the wok over medium heat, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
– ADD the flank steak 20 pieces at a time and sear for 2 minutes undisturbed before tossing with the wok tilted downward for wok hei
– REMOVE the steak, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
– ADD the garlic and ginger and saute for 15 seconds until fragrant
– ADD the bell pepper and onion and toss to combine for 1 minute
– ADD the bok choy and toss to combine for 2-3 minutes
– ADD the beef back to the wok, followed by the sauce element plus 1/4 cup water
– ADD the corn starch slurry and toss until a thick sauce forms
– SERVE over crispy noodles
Looks great dude!! Always enjoy your videos!!
I guess my main problem with Woo Can Cook recipes is, who has:
– Shaoxing wine
– Doubanjiang
– Black vinegar
I don’t even really know what these are, or how to find them.
I always love seeing your videos
Any tips for cooking this hot without setting off my apartment fire alarms? 😵
This looks great! Nice video and steps, this is very similar to a dish I would make at home.