Fried
beef hor fun is such a common dish among the Cantonese. It is served either ‘dry’
or bathed in thick savory sauce. To be considered a notch above the others, a hor
fun needs to be perfumed with wok hei.
Yes, the Cantonese, of all dialect groups, hold wok hei in highest esteem. A good chef must have mastered the
advanced stir-fry techniques that allow him to deliver power-packed wok hei to certain dishes. And fried hor
fun is definitely one of these.
Wok hei is most effectively
achieved when the iron wok is heated to smoking point. Oil is then added to
increase the heat as well as to lubricate the food that is to be fried. The
contents of the wok are tossed and swirled, the addition of more oil coupling
with the intense heat to flambé the ingredients. The fumes and aroma thus created
is captured in, and perfumes the dish, producing the prized wok hei.
In
the past, Cantonese cze cha stalls would use black bean paste in many of their
dishes including braised fish bee hoon, braised pork ribs with bitter gourd, and
claypot braised fish head. These dishes were very popular then, but the
availability of new sauces such as Kam Heong and Tom Yam have seen them decline
somewhat.
Beef 200 g, sliced about
2 mm thick, across the grain
Oil 1/3 cup
Chye
sim 2 stalks,
julienned
Hor
fun 450
g
Garlic 2, minced
Bean
sprout 50 g
Salt ½ tsp
Dark
soy sauce ½ tbsp
Onion ½, sliced thickly
Red
chilli 1, julienned
Chinese
wine 2 tbsp
Meat
stock 2 cup
Sesame
oil ½ tsp
Potato
flour 1 tbsp, mixed with
1 tbsp of water
Egg 2, beaten lightly
White
pepper ½ tsp
Fried
shallots 2 tbsp
Spring
onion 1 sprig, julienned
Marinade:
Apple
juice 2 tbsp, used as
natural tenderizer, optional
Light
soy sauce 1 tbsp
Ginger
juice 1/3 tsp
Chinese
wine 1 tbsp
White
pepper 1/3 tsp
Sesame
oil 1 tbsp
Potato
flour 1 tsp
Sauce
paste– mixed well and reduced to a paste under low heat
Peanut
oil 2 tbsp
Black
bean 2 tbsp, minced
coarsely
Yellow
bean paste 1 tbsp, mashed
Sugar ½ tbsp
Garlic 2, minced finely
Red
chilli 1, minced
finely
Water 4 tbsp
Method:
- Marinate beef and chill for
at least one hour.
- Heat wok or stainless steel
pan until hot. Pour 1 tbsp of oil. Swirl. Add another tbsp of oil. Fry
chye sim for 30 seconds. Add hor fun. Swirl hor fun with a spatula in a
circular movement. Do not lift hor fun high with the spatula or you risk
breaking it into small strands. When hor fun turns slightly golden, push
it to one side of the wok. Add ½ tbsp of oil and garlic,
give it a good toss and stir in hor fun. Add bean sprout, dark soy sauce
and salt, and give it a final toss. Divide hor fun into individual plates.
The whole process shouldn’t take more than 4 minutes.
- Using the same wok, add remaining
oil. Saute onion and chilli in medium heat until onion turns transparent.
- Add sauce paste, sugar and
mix thoroughly.
- Increase heat to high. Add
marinated beef and toss the pan continuously. Pour Chinese wine along the
sides of the wok, allowing them to dribble to the center.
- Pour in meat stock and let
it boil for 15 seconds.
- Lower heat to medium.
Thicken the sauce with potato starch. The sauce should be slightly watery
(not too gluey). Turn off the heat and pour egg mixture into the sauce, at
the same time using the spatula to stir slowly in one direction.
- Scoop gravy onto the fried
hor fun in their individual servings.
- Garnish it with white
pepper, fried shallots and spring onion.
Note:
Instead of boiling the sauce paste, it could be fried until all its ingredients
(except water) have caramelized, and then simmer it into paste.
