Flank Steak Stir Fry with Crispy Chow Mein Noodles

Recently I’ve start making a lot of stir fry recipes. Mainly because I’ve discovered flank steak and just want to cook with it every chance I get. And it’s especially great for stir fry because the super thin slivers of meat are really tender and cook in a flash. Also the crispy Chinese egg noodles in this recipe are great. Before frying them just cook them according to package directions. If the package itself is missing the directions – as mine was – just throw them into boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Of course if you’re not a fan of the noodles, like my boyfriend, you can serve this dish with rice. But I personally prefer the crispy noodles. I think they really enhance the flavor of the dish. I have to warn you – this recipe does include a few particular ingredients which you may not find in the average kitchen – mirin (Chinese rice wine) for example.  Sorry! If you can’t find this just omit it, but it’s definitely worth the purchase if you see it around! I just bought it for the first time myself last weekend – could not find it at the DC Giant Supermarket so had to travel all the way to the Market Basket in Ashland, MA for a bottle! I don’t know if you’re familiar with Market Basket but it’s both the best and worst grocery store around. Super cheap (big +) yet has an uninviting and uncomfortable interior with an overwhelming amount of people buzzing (and o they’re really buzzing) around at all hours (huge -).  Shaw’s on the other hand has a much nicer feel but you’re going to be paying 9$ for a bottle of orange juice (WHAT?@!)… And so I always just suck it up and enter the mad house that Market Basket is. (And I never step foot into Shaw’s because I used to work there and it brings back nightmares — well, they’re not really nightmares, I’m just a bad sport about it).

Recipe adapted from Use Real Butter

Ingredients:

8 oz Chow Mein noodles (chinese egg noodles)

8 oz snow peas

1 head broccoli, cut up

1 can straw mushrooms

1 can baby corn

1 can bamboo shoot strips

3/4-1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain (we talked about what this means, remember?)

4 green onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, sliced

7-8 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

6 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon mirin

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Prepare noodles according to package instructions, drain, and rinse with cold water.  Mix with 1 tablespoon mirin, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, and 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Pan fry on both sides to reach desired crispiness (adding more oil if needed).

2. Mix together 7 tablespoons soy sauce, sugar, 3 tablespoons sesame oil and cornstarch until smooth and add flank steak slivers to mixture.

3. In frying pan heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil over medium-high heat and cook sugar snap peas and broccoli until they turn a darker green color (a few minutes). Add mushrooms, corn and bamboo shoots, and cook for a few minutes.  Remove the vegetables and place into a separate bowl.

4. In same pan heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil over medium-high heat and add garlic and green onions, cooking until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add the beef and cook until meat is almost cooked through (few minutes) then add the vegetables back to the pan. Add 1 teaspoon mirin, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon soy sauce to pan and mix everything (add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar if mix is too salty). Continue to cook 1-2 more minutes.

5. Serve over crispy noodles and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Tagged as: asian, chow mein noodles, Dinner, flank steak, stir fry