Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 02 Sep 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Tomato beef chow mein is a classic Chinese-American dish that you can get at any Chinese restaurant. The dish is a mixture of beef, noodles, tomatoes, and other vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce (not that thick red gloppy stuff). Depending upon on your preference, the dish can be sourer than sweet or sweeter than sour. Curry powder can also be added and the amount again depends upon personal preference (this dish has some). You can think of this dish as the noodle version of the Spicy Tomato Beef Curry (咖哩粉番茄牛肉, Gaa³ Lei¹ Fan² Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶) recipe.

Tomatoes and beef are important components of this dish. I only make this dish when I have tomatoes available from my garden, and I use beef flank or flap meat sliced against the grain and marinated. Other than that, you can throw in any ingredient your heart desires. In this instance, I used bean sprouts, fried tofu puffs, baby bok choy, and from my garden: red bell pepper and green Thai chilies.

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)
4-6	4-6	Large tomatoes (番茄, faan1 ke4), cut into wedges
1-2	1-2	Green Thai chili peppers (小米椒, siu2 mai5 ziu1), cut into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces on the diagonal; optional and to taste
1	1	Medium onion (洋蔥, joeng4 cung1), halved and then quartered
8 oz.	226 g.	One package fried tofu puff (豆腐卜, dau6 fu6 pok1)
1	1	Red (紅椒, hung4 ziu1) or green bell pepper (青椒, ceng1 ziu1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
4 stalks	4 stalks	Baby bok choy (小白菜, siu2 baak6 coi3), quartered
½ lb.	250 g.	Bean sprouts (芽菜, ngaa4 coi3)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal
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 lb.	454 g.	One package chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

4-6 Tbs.	60-90 ml.	Rice vinegar (米醋, mai5 cou3)
2-4 Tbs.	30-60 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Sun brand Madras Curry Powder (咖哩粉, gaa3 lei1 fan2) or equivalent, or garam masala powder (胡荽, wu4 seoi1)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Turmeric (黃薑, wong4 goeng1), optional
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Worcestershire sauce (黃薑, kip1 zap1)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Kim Ve Wong brand Thick Soy Sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3) or equivalent, or dark soy sauce (老抽, lou5 cau1)
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

 

Tomato Beef Chow Mein Ingredients

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the beef flank or flap meat by removing any silver skin or fat, and cut the meat into thin 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces. Cutting the beef against the grain makes it easier to eat (if cut with the grain, the beef would be stringy and difficult to eat). 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.
2. 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.
3. Wash the tomatoes and cut into wedges. In my case, the tomatoes from my garden were the size of large cherry tomatoes, so I just cut them in half.

   

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

4. Wash and cut the Thai chili peppers into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces on the diagonal.
5. Remove the tough outer skin of the onion and cut in half. Cut each onion half into quarters.
6. Open and drain the liquid from the package of fried tofu puffs. The fried tofu puffs don’t keep for very long in the refrigerator, so be sure to use them shortly after purchasing.
7. Wash and cut the red or green bell pepper into 1- (2.5 cm.) x 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 1-inch (2.5 cm.) wide by 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.
8. Wash and cut the baby bok choy into quarters lengthwise. You can also separate the individual leaves instead of quartering.
9. Wash the bean sprouts and remove as much of the water as possible, which will facilitate stir frying later.
10. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
11. Wash and cut the green onions into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces on the diagonal.

Sauce Preparation Instructions

The balance of sourness to sweetness is controlled by the amount of rice vinegar and hoisin sauce used in the sauce, and that balance depends upon personal preference. I use hoisin sauce rather than sugar because it adds to the sauce’s thickness and you want the sauce to be somewhat thick (which can also be achieved by using a corn starch slurry). I would taste the sauce to gauge the balance. The sauce should taste concentrated and stronger than you prefer since it will be diluted once you add it to the other ingredients.

Sun Brand Madras Curry Powder
(咖哩粉, gaa3 lei1 fan2)

The amount of Madras curry powder is also a personal preference. I’ve eaten versions of this dish where the sauce had the distinctive yellow hue from the curry powder (or rather from the turmeric, which is an optional ingredient) and eaten versions where there wasn’t any curry at all. I prefer to have some curry powder in my dish, but you’ll have to determine if and how much to add. I use Sun brand Madras Curry Powder, and used to be able to buy this brand at my local Asian markets, but now has become nearly impossible to find. The brand can still be bought online.

1. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: Start by adding 4 Tbs. (60 ml.) rice vinegar and 2 Tbs. (30 ml.) hoisin sauce to the bowl and taste the mixture. If the mixture is too sour, add more hoisin sauce. If the mixture is too sweet, add more rice vinegar. The mixture should taste stronger than you would like the final sauce, since the other ingredients will dilute the taste.
2. Add the Sun brand Madras Curry (or equivalent) or garam masala powder, turmeric (optional), Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Kim Ve Wong brand thick soy sauce (or equivalent) or dark soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil to the bowl. Worchester sauce is not a normal ingredient in Chinese dishes, but I’ve found that this makes a great taste combination together with Madras curry powder.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil and then the beef. Stir fry the beef until brown by forming one layer of beef in the wok and leaving the beef alone for a while before flipping it over to brown the other side. You may have to stir fry the beef in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Transfer the browned beef to a bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the onion. Stir fry the onion and then transfer them to the bowl with the beef.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the tofu puffs. Stir fry the tofu puffs and then transfer them to the bowl with the beef.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the baby bok choy. Stir fry the baby bok choy and then transfer them to the bowl with the beef.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Thai chili peppers. Stir fry the peppers to brown them before adding in the bell pepper. Stir fry the bell pepper to brown them. Add the bowl with the ginger and garlic mixture, and then some oil to the mixture. Quickly stir fry all the ingredients until the ginger and garlic mixture becomes fragrant. Transfer the contents of the wok to the bowl with the beef.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bean sprouts. Stir fry the bean sprouts and then transfer them to the bowl with the beef.
7. 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 liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing wine; 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.
8. Add the green onions, tomatoes, and the contents of the bowl with the beef back into the wok, and gently stir fry all the ingredients together. The tomatoes are added at the end to preserve their shape. You want to see chunks or wedges of tomatoes in the finished dish.
9. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. You want a slightly thick sauce for this dish. You may need to add water or chicken stock to the wok to adjust the thickness or if you desire more sauce. If the sauce is too thin, then add a corn starch slurry to thicken (unlikely). Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.