Beef and Bell Pepper Dough Sliced Noodles (青椒牛肉刀削麵, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6 Dou1 Soek3 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 08 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I tried another brand of frozen dough sliced noodles. I had been buying the noodles that were made in Taiwan, but the ones from Korea were on sale at my local Korean market, so I thought I would give them a try. I really couldn’t tell any difference between the two brands, both having the chewy texture associated with dough sliced noodles, so I’ll add the Korean to my list of noodle sources.

The flavor for this dish comes not only from the ingredients used, but from the sauce, which mainly consists of soy sauce. The type and brand of soy sauce greatly influences the final taste of the dish. If you go into your local Asian market, you’ll find shelf after shelf with many brands of soy sauce, each with a unique flavor. The only advice that I can give to pick a particular brand of soy sauce is to try as many as you can before settling on one that you like. Some soy sauces are more expensive than others, and these tend to be special or first pressings (like olive oil). So try one of these “special” soy sauces in a sauce, but don’t use it in large quantities for a marinade. Use a more inexpensive soy sauce for marinades – I buy soy sauce in one gallon (about 4 liters) sized containers for this purpose.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Beef flank or flap meat (牛肉, ngau4 juk6), cut into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
10	10	Dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated and cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
¾ lb.	325 g.	Bean sprouts (芽菜, ngaa4 coi3)
1	1	Red bell pepper (紅椒, hung4 ziu1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) long strips
1	1	Green bell pepper (青椒, ceng1 ziu1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) long strips
1	1	Medium onion (joeng4 cung1, 洋蔥), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
6 cloves	6 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), sliced thinly
1.5 lb.	750 g.	Dough sliced noodles (刀削麵, dou1 soek3 min6) – 3 packages
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Kim Ve Wong brand thick soy sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
½ Tbs.	7.5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Kim Ve Wong Brand
Thick Soy Sauce
(膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3)

Preparation Instructions

1. If using frozen dough sliced noodles, thaw the noodles overnight in the refrigerator. Take the noodles out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
2. Pour boiling water over the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour.
3. Prepare the beef flank or flap meat by removing any silver skin or fat, and cut thinly against the grain into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. Wet with water and add the baking soda to the beef, allow to tenderize for 15 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
4. Marinate the beef in a covered container for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the beef overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
5. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid, remove the stems, and cut them into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process.
6. Wash the bean sprouts and then remove as much of the water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
7. Cut the onion in half lengthwise and then cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
8. Wash and cut the green and red bell pepper into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. First cut off the ends of the bell pepper, leaving an open cylinder. Remove the seeds and central core of the bell pepper and make one cut lengthwise to open the cylinder. Flatten the open bell pepper cylinder and cut ½-inch (15 mm.) wide by 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
9. Slice the garlic thinly, crush the ginger in a garlic press, and put into a small bowl.
10. Wash and cut the green onions into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
11. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Kim Ve Wong thick soy sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the beef pieces to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the beef in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the beef aside in a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the onion. Stir fry the onion and then remove them to the bowl with the beef.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then remove them to the bowl with the beef.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the bell pepper. Remove the ingredients to the bowl with the beef.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bean sprouts. Stir fry the bean sprouts and then remove them to the bowl with the beef.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add some of the mushroom rehydration liquid (but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone. You want the noodles to get burned before adding more oil to the noodles and turning them over, repeating the process.
7. Add the green onions and the contents of the bowl with the beef back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.