Don’t you just love the colors? The right combination of vegetables does that. A benchmark of Asian stir fries, really. And combining broccoli florets with carrot slices and shiitake gives the dish a lovely textural contrast too.
Is it a Chinese or Japanese dish? A little bit of both with a touch of Korean. The noodles are typical Chinese egg noodles. The seasoning includes Japanese Worcestershire sauce and mirin. But the overall flavor is more Korean than Chinese or Japanese because the sauce also has gochujang and chili flakes.
So, it’s fusion? Yes! And a glorious fusion dish it is too. Salty, sweet with a bit of tang from the Chinese black vinegar.
Cooking this noodle stir fry is done in three stages. The beef is cooked first, then the vegetables and finally, the noodles. Because the same sauce is used to season the meat and noodles, mix all the ingredients for the sauce before you start cooking.
Coat the bottom of your wok or frying pan with sesame oil, spread the beef, leave to sear a bit before turning over.
When the beef has lost most of its raw pinkish appearance, pour in half of the prepared sauce, sprinkle in a bit of sugar and cook until the meat has soaked up the liquid. The beef will be fully cooked at this point.
In a clean pan or wok, heat cooking oil and stir fry the vegetables and mushrooms with salt and pepper. We’re not seasoning them with sauce because that would make the vegetables too dark, and we really want them to retain their natural colors as much as possible.
When the vegetables and mushrooms are done — meaning they’re still lightly crisp and definitely not soft — scoop them out. Heat more cooking oil in the same pan or wok and saute your garlic and ginger until you smell their lovely fragrance before dumping in the noodles.
Take the remaining sauce, drizzle over the noodles and toss thoroughly. Add the vegetables and mushrooms, and continue tossing to distribute.
Finally, add the cooked beef (and any accompanying liquid) and cook, stirring and tossing, until everything is heated through.
Ingredients
Sauce
- ¼ cup Japanese soy sauce
- ¼ cup mirin
- 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Japanese Worcestershire sauce (we use Bulldog brand at home)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Beef
- 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
- 400 grams thinly sliced beef cut into two-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Vegetables
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- ½ cup carrot slices
- 1 cup shiitake slices
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Noodles
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
- 500 to 600 grams fresh egg noodles blanched, drained, refreshed in cold water then drained thoroughly
Instructions
Make the sauce
- Mix together all the ingredients for the sauce.
- Divide the sauce into two equal portions.
Cook the beef
- In a pan, heat the sesame seed oil then spread the beef in the hot oil. Cook until the underside is browned then stir and cook over high heat until most of the pinkness is gone.
- Pour in one portion of the sauce and sprinkle in a teaspoon of sugar.
- Cook, stirring often, until the meat has soaked up the liquid.
- Set the beef aside and keep warm.
Stir fry the vegetables
- In a wok or large frying pan, heat the two tablespoons of cooking oil and spread the broccoli florets, carrot slices and shiitake on the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle in salt and pepper.
- Stir fry for a minute or two depending on the size of the broccoli florets.
- Scoop out the vegetables and set aside. Keep warm.
Stir fry the noodles
- In the same wok or frying pan where you stir fried the vegetables, heat another two tablespoons of oil.
- Saute the garlic and ginger just until aromatic.
- Add the noodles and toss until every strand is coated with oil.
Finish the beef, broccoli and noodle stir fry
- Pour the remaining sauce over the noodles and toss to distribute evenly.
- Add the stir fried vegetables and mushrooms, and toss well.
- Finally, add the beef to the noodles and vegetables. Continue stir frying just until everything is heated through.
- Taste, adjust the seasonings if needed, and serve immediately.
