Smooth Egg and Beef on Rice Noodles 滑蛋牛河
(Cantonese: wat daan gnau hor) is a classic Cantonese dish. It’s part of the 濕炒牛河(sup chau gnau hor) or “wet” (means with slurry) beef with fried rice noodle family. The “wet” beef with fried rice noodles has been around long before the 乾炒牛河 (gon chau gnau hor) or (dry) fried rice noodles with beef. So this dish is at least a few hundred years old. You can find this popular dish at most Hong Kong Cafés and Cantonese congee and noodle restaurants.
There are many ways to make Smooth Egg and Beef on Rice Noodles 滑蛋牛河. But even with varying flavours, the texture must be smooth. Every ingredient in this dish is so smooth, you can slurp it in your mouth.
If you’ve stir-fried beef before, you’ll know that making smooth beef is not so easy. You can make the signature Cantonese smooth beef using 4 steps. Choose a good cut of beef, use the right marinade, cook at high temperature and short cooking time. Restaurants generally use baking soda to "velvet" their beef but I find that it takes away the juice and flavour of the beef. I don't like the after-taste that baking soda leaves. You really can't rinse it off because it's in the meat. Instead, I use the traditional method of water, starch and oil.
In my Smooth Egg and Beef on Rice Noodles 滑蛋牛河 recipe, I’ll show you how to make this slurpable dish that compares to the best restaurants. If you have access to a wok, high heat (if you don’t have a gas stove, a portable gas stove with high heat capacity will do) and fresh rice noodles, it can be done! I'll also give you tips on how to get “wok hei” even at home! I have listed very detailed instructions so that even a newbie in the kitchen can seem like a master!
Don’t worry if you don’t have access to fresh rice noodles. It’s equally tasty on white rice or even pasta. Whatever you put it on, I’m sure your family will love it like mine!
Check out my Hong Kong cafe recipe section for more classics! A couple of my family staples are the Hong Kong Curry Beef Brisket 港式咖哩牛腩 and Hong Kong Spaghetti Bolognese 焗肉醬意粉 recipes.
Smooth Egg and Beef on Rice Noodles 滑蛋牛河
Ingredients
- 450 g Cooked flat rice noodles , fresh
- 250 g Flank steak , sliced
- 2 Large eggs , beaten
- 2 stalks Green onions , chopped
- 1 ½ tbsp Oil for noodles
- 2 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for beef marinade:
- 20 ml Water
- 2 tsp Corn starch
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Oil
Ingredients for sauce:
- 1 c Water or broth
- 2 tsp Fish sauce
- 1 tsp Corn starch
- ½ tsp Sugar
Ingredients for noodle seasoning:
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Water
Instructions
- Slice beef to approx. 3mm thick
- Marinate beef with 20ml water, ½ tsp sugar, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tsp corn starch, ¼ tsp white pepper powder and 1 tsp light soy sauce. Mix well and gently massage the beef so that the water is completely absorbed
- Add 2 tsp oil to the beef and massage again until the oil coats each piece of beef. Marinate for 30 minutes
the oil will lock-in the marinade - Beat 2 large eggs and set aside
- Chop green onions and set aside
- Combine 1c water, 2 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp corn starch and ½ tsp sugar for the sauce. Set aside
If you don’t have fish sauce, you can also use 1 tsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp oyster sauce instead - Combine 1 tsp light soy sauce and 2 tsp water and set aside
- Peel apart or loosen the rice noodles
- Heat wok using high heat
this is an extremely important step because if the wok is not hot enough, the rice noodles will turn mushy. You know it’s hot enough when a drop of water will evaporate as soon as it touches the wok - Add 1 ½ tbsp oil, swirl it around the wok
- Add rice noodles. Stir-fry for 1 minute
- Add the noodle seasoning onto the surface of the wok and keep stir-frying for 30 seconds
This step is for heating up the noodles as well as to give the noodles some “wok hei” and additional flavour - Remove noodles and put them on a serving plate Wash the wok if it has any of the noodle residue on it
Anything not removed will end up becoming black specks in your sauce - Heat the wok on high heat again. Add 2 tbsp oil
If the wok is not hot enough, the water you added to the beef will come out and then your beef with be stewed instead of stir-fried resulting in a tough texture - Add beef. If there is any water that has pooled on the bottom, just pour it out before putting it in the wok. Do not pour the water into the hot wok as this can cause dangerous oil splatter
- Spread the beef out in single layer and let it cook for 30 seconds then flip it over and cook for another 30 seconds. You want to get a good sear and only cook it until it’s 50% done.
Residual heat plus putting it back into the wok later will cook it to approx. 70% done or medium done - Remove beef from wok
- Give the prepared sauce mixture a stir until the corn starch is well mixed and pour it into the wok. Bring it to a boil and turn the heat down to medium high
- Slowly pour beat eggs into the wok. Pour in a circular motion or zigzag motion to create some ribbon effects. Let the eggs set for 20 seconds or until they become semi-solid
- Using your spatula, slowly push the mixture to one side and repeat in the same direction. Do not use back and forth motion as it will break the egg ribbons
- Once you can see formation of the egg ribbons, add the beef and chopped green onions
It is typical for the eggs to be a bit raw in this dish but I like to fully cook the eggs to prevent any health hazards - Gently mix well
- Pour over rice noodles and serve
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