Chinese Noodle Dish With Beef and Tomato

Auntie Betty's Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵)

When my dad first described his favorite childhood dish, my mind immediately thought of fusion. Stir fried tomatoes, onions, peppers and flank steak cloaked in a sweet ketchup gravy, then poured over crunchy egg noodles. Tomato beef chow mein is basically Chinese spaghetti.

Back to my dad. He always talked about his Aunt Betty Loy's tomato beef chow mein. She'd always make it for him whenever he visited her and his cousins Mel, Moy and Lindy. So, I did some digging. I blew up all three auntie's phones in search for the recipe.

The recipe came in tidbits: the secret is curry powder; Auntie Betty didn't even use measurements, she just went by taste; and then finally, Auntie Moy did me a solid and scrounged up her mother's cookbook.

So I decided to make Auntie Betty's chow mein. And let me tell you, the secret is curry powder. As for the brand? My dad had a random Chinese curry powder jar in his pantry, so we used that. And for the ketchup? Just put yourself back in the 70s and 80s. Did they really have "organic" ketchup back then? Hell no! Which is why you gotta use Heinz. (But if you already have a Japanese ketchup brand that you use to make omurice and naporitan…then that's an acceptable, sugary substitution.)

If you're looking for something hearty and homey, then look no further.

Auntie Betty's Tomato Beef Chow Mein

Serves: 4
Time: 50 minutes
Original recipe by Betty Loy

Ingredients

For the tomato beef chow mein

• 1 pound fresh Hong Kong style pan-fried egg noodles (See Recipe Notes)

• Vegetable oil

• 3/4 pound flank steak, cut into 1/8" strips and 1 1/2" wide

• 1 onion, cut into large dices

• 3 celery stalks, sliced 1/8" diagonally

• 1 green pepper, cut in chunks or sliced

• 4 fresh tomatoes, or 4 peeled whole canned tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon salt, separated into 1/2 teaspoon parts

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon sake

For the ketchup gravy

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4+ teaspoon curry powder (See Recipe Notes)

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Method

1. Bring water to boil in a wok or large pot. Cook the fresh egg noodles in the boiling water for 1 minute. Heat up a skillet to medium-high heat and cover the surface with vegetable oil.

2. Take the noodles out of the pot and drain them in a colander, then quickly place them on the oiled skillet. Spread the noodles out evenly onto the pan to get a crispy surface.

3. Lift the noodles with a spatula to check and make sure they're not getting burnt, about 4-5 minutes. When noodles are starting to firm up and turn golden brown, flip them over in sections so the other side can get crispy, another 3-5 minutes. Set the noodles aside on a large plate. If you used a wok, drain and dry it so you can re-use it.

4. Heat a wok on medium high heat and drizzle in vegetable oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, diced onion, celery slices, and green pepper. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Remove.

5. Heat wok with more vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and flank steak. Stir fry for 2 minutes, or until meat is cooked through. Add mixture of 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon rice wine. Stir for another half minute and remove.

6. Now make the ketchup gravy. Heat wok with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil on medium heat. Add all the gravy ingredients: 1/4 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 teaspoon curry powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir fry and heat through. Turn to low heat.

7. As the flavors meld, make a paste of 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a separate cup or small bowl using a fork. Scrape and mix until it becomes a glue-like consistency.

8. Pour the cornstarch mixture gradually into the ketchup gravy to thicken it. Thicken to taste. (We did not use all of the cornstarch paste.) You can also choose to add more sugar or more rice vinegar, too.

9. Now add cooked onion, celery, and green pepper to sauce. Then add quartered tomatoes. Mix and coat the vegetables in the gravy for one minute. Then add the cooked steak and coat it in the gravy.

10. Turn off heat. Pour over the fried egg noodles and serve!

Recipe Notes:

• It's really important that you use thin egg noodles. The thinner, the crispier they'll be. The Woks of Life blog created a detailed writeup about Chinese noodles and their consistencies. We used the same brand they recommended, which was Twin Marquis. You can find them at any big Asian grocery chain like 99 Ranch or H-Mart.

• To guard the Loy family's recipe, I'm not giving you the amount of curry powder! Season to taste. I recommend starting small for your first time.

• The first three steps in this recipe were not written by Auntie Betty — I improvised on those! I also used this chow mein recipe by The Woks of Life to guide us through the process.

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Source: https://chicanese.com/blog/tomato-beef-chow-mein

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