Stir-fried beef ho fun with Chinese chives & bean sprouts
Smoky wok-fried rice noodles with beef, spring chives and ginger — warming and tasty, made with less oil and ready in 20 minutes.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yang Deficiency means feeling the cold and tiring easily, and foggy, damp equinox days chill the hands and feet. Warming beef, chives and ginger balance the cooler bean sprouts — warming without heat, eaten piping hot at home in 20 minutes.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Slice the beef thinly against the grain and marinate with 1 tsp of the light soy, the cornflour and 1 tbsp water for 10 minutes; stir in a little oil before cooking.
- 2Separate the noodles. Pick the roots off the bean sprouts, rinse and drain. Cut the chives into 4 cm lengths.
- 3Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and stir-fry the beef over high heat until about 70% done. Lift out.
- 4Add the remaining oil, fry the ginger until fragrant, then add the noodles and toss over medium-high heat with the rest of the light soy and the dark soy until evenly coloured.
- 5Add the bean sprouts, chives and beef and stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute, until the sprouts just soften. Sprinkle with white pepper and serve.
Chef's tips
- Refrigerated ho fun goes stiff — microwave it for 30 seconds or soak briefly in hot water first so it doesn't break in the wok.
- Cook fast over high heat and stop as soon as the sprouts soften so they stay crunchy.
The TCM view
Beef is sweet and warm and builds the spleen, qi and blood; Chinese chives are pungent and warm and lift kidney yang — the classic spring vegetable; ginger is pungent and warm and dispels cold; bean sprouts are sweet and cool and lighten the dish, their coolness offset by the ginger and chives; a little white pepper warms the middle. Warm but not drying.
