I must admit that I am a terrible cook when it comes to noodles. I don’t know why I can’t get the perfect seasoning/sauce. Or maybe, I always overlook the ingredients I may have on hand by looking away from the pantry.
Considering myself a terrible cook when it comes to noodles, it didn’t stop me from trying again. This time, I want something you can call an all-in-one meal. (Must have really gained confidence now, eh?) I imagined noodles with beef, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and bell pepper. Hmm… yum! So what about the seasoning/sauce? Well, let’s see…
Egg Noodles with Beef and Veggies
Ingredients:
For marinating the beef:
- ¼ kg beef, sliced thinly
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
For the sauce:
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 4 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Other ingredients (for the noodles):
- ½ kg fresh egg noodles (or dried), blanched
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- ½ cup sliced bell pepper
- ½ cup carrots, julienned
- 1 cup white button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup cabbage
- 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- Cooking oil
Instructions:
Before we proceed with the actual cooking, we have to do the following first:
Marinate the beef overnight. [Yes, I really suggest marinating the beef overnight. If not, at least 2 hours.]
On the next day: (If the beef was marinated overnight) 1) prep the broccoli: put the Broccoli in a container or bowl, pour in some water – enough to cover the florets and microwave for one minute; 2) blanch the fresh egg noodles: put the noodles in a heat proof bowl and pour in some hot water and let it sit for four minutes. After doing so, drain the noodles and transfer to a bowl with cold water. This would prevent the noodles from cooking way too long; 3) mix all ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
Moving on to the next steps:
- Heat oil in a pan (with the fire on high). Add beef and stir fry for 15 minutes or until the beef is cooked. You can see the beef slightly caramelized because of the brown sugar.
- Remove the beef from the wok or pan (or whatever you are using) and lower the heat the medium. In the same pan, add additional oil and sauté onion for one minute. Add carrots, cabbage, mushrooms and red bell pepper. Cook for two minutes.
- Add in the beef, broccoli and the sauce. This time (and on a low heat), try tasting the sauce if it’s fine with you. If yes, you can add the noodles and let the sauce coat everything. (This will take less than a minute.)
- Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. Share and enjoy!
I hope that didn’t sound complicated. It seemed a little complicated for me when I cooked this but I realized that nothing is complicated when you have prepared everything. Am I right?
I really enjoyed this dish. I ate this along with rice and sunny-up eggs. 😀 For me, this is an all-in-one meal, but you know… this was served during the New Year (Seriously, I fried eggs to serve on New Year’s breakfast.), so I had to forget that I was on diet. And I did not like the result of forgetting my diet. As I said, I did not eat too much, but carbs and calories (because I ate a slice of cake?) have great effect on my body.
And oh yes! About re-heating the noodles, using a microwave-safe bowl, I popped in the noodles in the microwave and pressed the one minute button and set it aside. I sautéed onions and tomatoes (with a little oil) and tossed in the reheated noodles and mix. The result? This meal was yummier the next day. 😀
