Cantonese · noodle
Beef Chow Fun
干炒牛河 · Gān Chǎo Niú Hé
Stir-fried wide flat rice noodles with sliced beef, scallion, bean sprouts and a smoky wok-hei flavour.
Beef chow fun is a Cantonese stir-fried noodle dish that doubles as a test of the wok cook's skill. Wide flat rice noodles (he fen) are stir-fried over very high heat with thinly-sliced marinated beef, scallion, bean sprouts and dark soy sauce. The signature flavour is wok hei — the smoky char that comes from cooking at the limit of what the pan can handle. Done well, it's transcendent; done poorly, it's clumpy and oily.
Where to try
Hong Kong: Sing Heung Yuen, plus traditional cha chaan teng. Guangzhou: many Cantonese houses.
Dietary notes
Rice noodles (gluten-free), beef, soy.
Cities to try Beef Chow Fun
Other south dishes
- Beef Chow Fun干炒牛河
Flat rice noodles dry-fried with silky marinated beef, beansprouts and spring onion over a fierce wok flame.
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