This is a very typical stir fried noodle dish that I have as a midweek meal. One that doesn’t require specific ingredients – just use whatever you have. Use fresh or dried noodles, whatever vegetables are lying around. And Charlie, my All Purpose Chinese Stir Fry Sauce. He’s a midweek lifesaver. And Super Food Ideas magazine agrees!!
Beef Hokkien Noodles
Charlie is the name I have given to my All Purpose Chinese Stir Fry Sauce. That’s how fond I am of him – I’ve named him. Charlie – as in Charlie Brown. Everybody say boo, how unoriginal!! 😉
You might laugh that I’ve named him but you won’t laugh if you try him. He’s becoming FAMOUS!!! He’s now not only one of the all time most popular recipes here on RecipeTin Eats, he’s got an entire six page spread in Super Food Ideas Magazine!
I know Charlie isn’t beautiful. He’s a rather unassuming brown sauce, he looks rather unappetising actually, especially when he’s been in the fridge for a few weeks and he’s separated into layers.
Unattractive he may be. But he’s packed with super powers because of his versatility, convenience and how darn delicious he is, even if you do nothing but add water to him in a stir fry.
Who would have ever thought that a plain brown sauce would be sitting in the fridge of hundreds and thousands, if not millions, of households around the world?
And now, he’s in SUPER FOOD IDEAS magazine!!! Five brand new recipes created using Charlie that I made especially and exclusively for the March issue of Super Food Ideas which just hit the stands!
I think you’ll be pretty amazed at the range of dishes that can be made using Charlie. Stir fries and noodles are the obvious ones. But he can also be used as:
A sauce – like in the Pan Fried Chinese Fish recipe (middle right above) and the saucy prawn stir fry on crispy noodles (3rd from the right);
For a speedy fried rice – I made a Speedy Pork Fried rice for the magazine (far right); and
Soup! Pictured above is a Chinese Chicken & Corn Soup I made using Charlie (2nd from the right).
I was really, really torn about which recipe to share. I decided to go with the Spicy Hokkien Noodles because it’s a staple in my midweek meal repertoire. I very rarely follow this recipe exactly, I substitute the beef for whatever proteins I have – or even go meat free – and use whatever vegetables I have. Literally – anything. I even used fennel once. It was darn tasty actually!
I love stir fried noodles because it’s a complete meal made in one pot (or skillet!) – no need to make a separate side of rice. My favourites that are in heavy rotation include Chicken Rice Noodles, Chicken Vegetable Ramen Noodles, Pad See Ew, Beef Broccoli Noodles and Chow Mein.
This recipe makes enough for 4 people so I use the method of cooking the ingredient in batches, then bringing it all together at the end. The reason I do this is because otherwise the wok gets too full and the vegetables and beef will stew rather than be crisp and just cooked which is how they should be for stir fries.
As with all stir fries, once you start cooking it all comes together very quickly so have everything chopped and ready to go. Are you ready for a quick dinner? Make up some Charlie to have on standby, then you’re just 20 minutes away from this! – Nagi x
Option: Tenderising beef for stir fries
Ever notice how the meat in Chinese dishes is so incredibly tender, and how your stir fries at home are just never the same? The secret is tenderising the meat – a method called velveting.
That’s right. Your cheerful local Chinese restaurant is using economical stewing beef to make stir fries with ultra tender strips of beef by tenderising it!
Find out how to use this simple, highly effective method: How to Tenderise Beef (the Chinese way).
This is optional only, when wanting to make stir fries with economical beef or you simply want extra tender beef, Chinese restaurant style!
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Spicy Beef Hokkien Noodles
Ingredients
Beef
- 13oz / 400g beef rump steak , trimmed, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp Homemade Chinese Stir-fry Sauce (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
Stir Fry
- 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 small onion (brown, white or yellow)
- 1 red capsicum/bell pepper , sliced
- 1/3 cup Homemade Chinese Stir-fry Sauce (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp chilli paste , hot sauce, sriracha (to taste) OR finely chopped chilli
- 3 scallions/shallots , cut into 3cm lengths
- 7oz / 200g snow peas , trimmed
- 15oz / 450g fresh hokkien noodles , from the fridge section
To Garnish (optional)
- Sliced red chilli , sliced scallions/shallots and toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Marinate beef – Mix beef and 2 tbsp Stir-fry Sauce in a glass or ceramic bowl. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate.
- Noodles – Prefer the noodles per the packet directions. Drain in a colander and rinse under tap water to remove excess starch (makes noodles gluey). Shake off excess water.
- Cook beef – Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a large wok over high heat. Cook beef for 1 1/2 minutes or until just cooked through. Transfer to a bowl.
- Cook vegetables – Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and onion, cook for 30 seconds. Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the bowl with the beef.
- Cook green onion and snow peas – Add 1/3 cup Homemade Chinese Stir-fry Sauce, water and chili paste. Cook for 30 seconds or until sauce starts to thicken. Add green onion and snow peas, cook for 30 seconds.
- Toss with noodles – Return beef and capsicum mixture to the wok, add noodles and stir fry for 1 minute 30 seconds, tossing to coat everything in the sauce.
- Serve immediately, garnished with chili, sliced scallions/shallots and sesame seeds if desired.
Recipe Notes:
3 tbsp soy sauce (all purpose, I use Kikkoman)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
½ tsp sesame oil (optional)
Dash of black pepper
So delicious! Couldn’t use peanut oil so only use canola and it’s still great. Mistakenly marinated the beef in whole charlie sauce instead of 2 tbsp lol. Still turned out delicious. Thanks Nagi!
As usual excellent
Made this last night with chicken, amazing! Love the flexibility of the recipe, pick the protein of choice. Have some 5 spice powder for next time. Havent used those noodles in the past, makes it so easy. Thanks again!!
Nagi, are you supposed to cook the noodles first? Mine turned out inedibly clumped together but the rest of it was delicious.
I have made this several times and it is always perfect! And always eaten up right away😃
I have enjoyed making several of your recipes! Thank you!
Thanks for all your recipes Nagi, you’re my favourite online cook/chef, I’ve recently bought your book so now have a hard copy, hope it puts a few $ your way to compensate for all the great food ideas you’ve sent my way
Never commented on any website/blog before but I had to do it today! I made this noodle for family of 3 (me, hubby and 5yo daughter who is very fussy eater) and all of us really enjoyed tonight dinner (I did not put any hot chillies in it as my daughter can’t eat spicy food, even not a tiny bit of pepper). Will use this recipe in the future again and again. Thanks so much Nagi!
Your recipes are all gold Nagi🙏
Hi Nagi
Made this recipe tonight. It would have to be the best noodles I have made ❤️. I added a crushed clove of garlic when marinating and also chilli paste as I used chicken tenderloins. Also used the velveting method. Didn’t have serachi sauce so used sweet chilli sauce. Thanks so much for your beautiful recipe it was amazing
This was fantastic and hubby and I loved the flavor. Not enough spice though. We may add red pepper flakes to it. Thanks!
Delicious!! I swapped the beef for tofu and capo for broccoli and it was amazing. Thanks Nagi!
Hi Nagi, first of all, I’m a huge fan of ur recipes. Ur recipe are so detailed, simply explained and easy to follow! I want to make this recipe to dinner tomorrow, but if I omit the chilli paste will it change the taste, since my toddler can’t eat spicy. Thank u for having a food blog, there are no words to describe how amazing ur recipes are!
I made this noodle for family of 3 (me, hubby and 5yo daughter who is very fussy eater) and all of us really enjoyed tonight dinner and my daughter said it was delicious (I did not put any hot chillies in it as my daughter can’t eat spicy food, even not a tiny bit of pepper). I give this recipe 10 out of 10!
Made this it was awesome 👌
Tasted great but i found that if i made it at lunch for the family to eat at dinner time the hokkein didnt sit well, it felt thick. Im not familiar with hokkein noodles is this normal? It tasted great fresh off the pan but when i sat to have dinner with the fam it wasnt that nice. Any ideas?
Hi Jay the reason for the thickness is the cornflour is great when served up cooked fresh in any food however when you chill it and put it in the fridge the gelatine turns to a cloudy jelly which won’t cook out if you make it to eat later then do not add gelatine just add the sauces only
Sorry I don’t understand Jay – the sauce was thick? Were the noodles coated in a powder or anything? N x
Okay, I made this! AND WE LOVED IT!
I used the beef velveting technique, I made the special sauce.. and cooked everything according to the recipe. Just swapped out veggies for ones we wanted. And I’ve got to say, this is now a favourite in my household! Absolute winner!! Thank you sooo much for teaching me how to make delicious tender meat in stir fry’s!! Sooo life changing!
Super delicious!
Love your recipes! ❤️
Easy and super delicious!
Love your recipes! ❤️
Awesome recipe but the grams for meat doesn’t increase when you change serving sizes (seen this a fair bit on your site?). The oz does 🙂
Dave
Thanks Dave! I’ve fixed it 🙂 It all comes down to exactly how the data is input into the recipe cards! I am progressively making my way through all 1200 recipes to check…😩
Delicious! I used sambal instead of sriracha and it was so divine.
Hi Nagi, do you have a rough estimate for the nutritional information on this dish please.
I need to update this recipe – thanks for picking that up Sarah! N x