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Chinese Name: 干炒牛河
English Name: Beef Chow Fun; Dry Dried Niuhe; Beef Fried Powder; Fried Beef River
Category: Cantonese Cuisine粤菜
Main Ingredients: Hefen河粉
Beef Chow Fun干炒牛河 is a special snack in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, belonging to the Guangdong cuisine department. Hefen河粉, also known as Shahe Fen沙河粉, originates from Shahe Town沙河镇, Guangzhou. Dry fried Niuhe is considered to be a major test of the cooking technology of Guangdong chefs and it is easy to know whether the craft is good or bad.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty清朝 and the beginning of the Republic of China民国, the food in Guangzhou was roughly divided into three business modes: one was a restaurant; One is the teahouse; There is also a noodle shop commonly known as “Erligan二厘馆”, and “Hefen河粉” is the famous food of “Erligan”.
In 1938, Guangzhou, which had the reputation of “eating in Guangzhou食在广州”, was invaded by the Japanese invaders, and all industries withered. A businessman named Xu Bin许彬 had to end the business of the restaurant and operate a “porridge and flour” shop on Yangxiang Road杨巷路.
In the past, dry fried Niuhe was processed by “wet frying” to thicken. One day, the raw Hefen was just used up. Xu Bin wanted to buy them in the Japanese military area, but the Japanese army set up checkpoints to prevent passage, and finally failed to buy them.
At this time, a traitor wanted to eat fried noodles in the store. Xu Bin’s father Xu Bochou许伯畴 said that he couldn’t fry without raw Hefen. But the traitor thought Xu Bochou had deceived him, so he took out a pistol and threatened to eat it.
Xu Bin just came back and saw this situation. He had no choice but to go into the kitchen to heat the pot, add sprouts to fry the Hefen, and then put some fried beef to deal with the traitor.
To everyone’s surprise, the traitor ate happily and came to visit every night. At that time, it was not easy to buy raw Hefen. Xu Bin was also very pleased to see that this practice was accepted. So he worked hard on the production technology. A “Dry Dried Niuhe” came into being, and Guilin chili sauce was added, making Xu Bin’s shop a sea of people.
After the Anti-Japanese War抗日战争, Dongtian restaurant洞天酒家 took the lead in introducing this method to the banquet, and this cheap street snack began to appear in the “elegant hall大雅之堂”.
In 2010, the fried beef river was rated as the top ten recipes of 2009 by the Los Angeles Times洛杉矶时报.
How to make Beef Chow Fun?
Ingredients：
- 200 grams of dried rice noodles
- 250 grams of bean sprouts
- 150 grams of beef
- A proper amount of oil
- A little salt
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine
- 2 tablespoons raw soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- Half a teaspoon of granulated sugar
- Half a teaspoon of sesame oil
- 2 onions
Instruction:
- Step 1, Boil the water in the pot and add dried River noodles. Boil the Hefen until soft and drain them for later use.
- Step 2, Clean the bean sprouts and drain the water for standby. Shred the onion.
- Step 3, Marinate the beef slices with salt, cooking wine, soy sauce, and oil for a while.
- Step 4, Heat the oil pan and fry the beef slices first. Wait for the beef to change color and put it aside.
- Step 5, Heat a hot oil pan and stir fry shredded onion. Add bean sprouts and stir fry. Then add boiled soft rice noodles and stir with chopsticks.
- Step 6, Mix a sauce: add oyster sauce, raw soy sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil, and stir well.
- Step 7, Add the mixed sauce and mix well. Sprinkle with scallion. Then come out of the pot and put it on a plate.
Tips:
- Remember not to put too much oil when frying River noodles, otherwise, the fried River noodles are easy get greasy. It only needs a little more oil than usual.
- When frying rice noodles, do not use a shovel. It is recommended to stir fry in a pot, so it is not easy to break rice noodles. You can also use chopsticks to assist in the operation.
