Chinese Beef and Broccoli Noodles

1. NOODLES: I make this with fresh noodles, sold in the fridge section. I use egg (yellow noodles). If you only have dried, use about 250g / 8 oz (use yellow noodles). Cook them per the packet BEFORE or with the broccoli (depends how long it takes, broccoli only needs 1 1/2 - 2 minutes max).

This can also be made with dried rice noodles (white) - use 200g / 7 oz (it expands more so use less).

2. SOY SAUCE: Not all soy sauces are created equal! Light soy sauce is saltier than all purpose and dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce has a more intense flavour and makes the noodles a darker colour.

You can use all purpose soy sauce (i.e. not labelled "Dark" or "Light", like Kikkoman) in place of both of these. The colour of your stir fry will not be quite as dark but the flavour will be similar. You can also substitute the dark soy sauce with 1.5 tbsp of light soy sauce. DO NOT use just dark soy sauce - the sauce flavour will be way too strong! Also please do not use sweet soy sauce / kecap manis.

3. COOKING WINE: Dry Sherry, Japanese cooking sake and Mirin are great subs. If using Mirin, omit the sugar. If you cannot consume alcohol, omit this and use CHICKEN OR BEEF BROTH instead of the water in the sauce. 🙂

4. Yes this recipe is also terrific with chicken. 🙂

5. This is the stir fried noodles version of Chinese Beef and Broccoli. The sauce flavour is stronger because there's more ingredients for the sauce to coat.

6. ALL PURPOSE STIR FRY SAUCE: This can be made using Charlie, my All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce which can be kept for weeks and weeks, so make a big batch! Give the jar a good scrape, use use a spoon if needed to mix up the cornflour that will have settled at the bottom of the jar. Then use 6 tbsp of Charlie + 1/2 cup of water + Chinese Five Spice in place of all the Sauce ingredients.

7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings. For LOW SODIUM, use low sodium soy sauce for both the soy sauces and it will reduce to 537 mg sodium per serving.