Beef Chow Fun

Ingredients

• 500g fresh wide rice noodles (ho fun)
• 300g beef flank or sirloin
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 large onion
• 200g beansprouts
• 6 spring onions
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce, for the sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 4 tbsp groundnut oil

Before you cook

• Slice the beef across the grain into pieces about 3mm thick and as wide as your thumb.
• Toss the beef with the bicarbonate of soda and 2 tablespoons of water, leave it for 20 minutes, then rinse it well under cold water and squeeze it dry.
• Mix the drained beef with the tablespoon of light soy, the cornflour and the sesame oil, and leave it while you prepare everything else.
• Separate the rice noodles into individual strands with your fingers, working gently so they do not tear, and let them come fully to room temperature.
• Cut the onion into thin wedges through the root.
• Cut the spring onions into 5cm lengths, splitting the white parts lengthways.
• Stir the sauce soy sauces, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper together in a bowl.
• Line every prepared bowl up beside the stove, because the cooking takes under four minutes.

Steps

1. Heat a wok over the highest flame your hob will give until a wisp of smoke rises from the dry surface.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of the groundnut oil and swirl it up the sides.
3. Spread the beef across the wok in one layer and leave it undisturbed for 45 seconds to take colour.
4. Toss the beef for a further 30 seconds until barely cooked through, then scoop it onto a plate.
5. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and tip in the onion wedges.
6. Stir the onion for 1 minute until the edges soften and catch.
7. Add the noodles and let them sit flat for 30 seconds without touching them.
8. Fold the noodles over with a wide spatula rather than stirring, lifting from underneath so they do not break, and repeat this three times over the next minute.
9. Pour the sauce around the rim of the wok so it hits the hot metal, then fold it through the noodles until the colour is even.
10. Return the beef with any juices, add the beansprouts and spring onions, and fold everything together for 45 seconds.
11. Take the wok off the heat while the beansprouts still snap.
12. Turn out onto a warm platter and eat straight away.