How to make Beef Hor Fun Noodles, flat rice noodles slathered in a savoury gravy with tender beef slices.
Singapore Beef Hor Fun Noodles is a classic hawker zi char dish of springy, wide rice noodles slathered in a yummy, savoury sauce with lots of tender beef slices. This is one of my favourite hawker dishes, and I love slurping the velvety smooth noodles complemented with the delectable bites of beef.
Another favourite hor fun dish that I enjoy is Seafood Hor Fun Noodle, which I made right here.
Rice Noodles for Beef Hor Fun
Hor Fun noodles are rice noodles that are flat and wide. Another rice noodle type that you can look out for is Kway Teow noodles, which are also flat but thinner in width. Any fresh rice noodles will do, but the wider hor fun and kway teow noodles work best for this.
You can use dry noodles if that is what you have available to you, but the fresh rice ones are best as they have a better elasticity and sturdiness. The dry ones tend to be more brittle.
When you purchase fresh noodles, you would notice that the noodles are oily. This is optional, but I recommend rinsing the noodles to remove some of the oil. The oil used are usually a cheaper, lower quality oil, so I would much rather rinse it off.
How to make the BEST Beef Hor Fun: Cook Separately
In this recipe, you would notice that there are three separate cooking involved.
- The frying of the noodles
- The searing of the beef slices
- Making the gravy
I know it seems like a lot, but it truly is not! In fact, you’re literally using the SAME PAN to cook all three parts!
Why do we cook the noodles and beef separately?
Frying the noodles first will mimic that ‘wok hei’ effect, whilst making the noodles more sturdy. However, it is skippable. Read on the next couple of sections for more information on this.
The beef is cooked separately, since it cooks quick. Cooking it along with the gravy might overcook it, resulting in tough and tasteless meat.
Faking the ‘Wok Hei’ Effect
Singaporeans and Malaysians would be very familiar with the term wok hei. Wok hei translates to “breath of the wok” in Chinese, and it refers to the charred, smoky, almost burnt taste that is imparted onto dishes when it is cooked in a seasoned wok over high heat. It’s quite hard to replicate this at home, since most of us would not have a hawker stove that emits those huge flames essential for good wok hei.
You can imitate it with what you already have at home. First heat your pan over high heat. Once hot, add the noodles in. Spread it evenly and do not touch the noodles. Let the bottom of the noodles get caramelised and charred. This will take about 5 minutes or so. Then gently flip to the other side, and let that get charred as well. This will result in random charred portions to the noodles, giving it an almost-smoky, wok hei effect!
Whether you want to add oil is up to you. Not adding oil will char it faster. I add oil to mine since I prefer the noodles to be easier to handle in the wok, since the rice noodles can get notoriously sticky.
Can you skip the frying process?
If you don’t want to go through the initial noodle frying process, you can! In fact, I’ve done it multiple times – especially on lazy days. Simply add the hor fun noodles at the gravy-making stage and braise it to cook.
Do note that your noodles will be more fragile, and break up a lot easily. I don’t mind this though.
It is up to you if you still want to coat the noodles with dark soy sauce prior to adding to the gravy. This will result in a more even coating and colour, but personally I don’t find that big a difference in taste.
Type of Beef
I used beef flank, which are great for stir fries. Slice them thinly and against the grain.
I also like to use Shabu Shabu beef slices! These are beef pieces that has been sliced super thin, resulting in tender non-chewy beef each time. It’s slightly more expensive than regular beef, but definitely worth the convenience.
If you don’t eat beef, replace with sliced chicken! It works well too.
Using Baking Soda
I used baking soda to tenderise the beef. It makes the beef more velvety too. I like to do this, but quite frankly I rarely do. I always do these two instead to get tender beef:
- Slice my beef thinly
- Slice my beef against the grain
If you are using baking soda – use just a pinch! If you use too much, your beef will have an unpleasant bitter aftertaste.
Seasoning
I use a very simple seasoning of oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. These are common pantry ingredients in the Asian kitchen. A little tip is to stir fry the sauces first before adding in the water or stock. Frying the oyster sauce first deepens the flavour even more.
Some beef hor fun dishes have black bean sauce included, so it’s a darker colour with an added umami flavour. Personally, I prefer this dish better without the black bean sauce! If you enjoy it, and you have a jar at home, add a teaspoon of it to your dish.
Using Stock vs Water
You can use either stock or water for the gravy, and of course I would recommend the stock! The stock is what gets the noodles to taste like the hawker zi char stalls.
I used chicken stock for the gravy; beef stock works too. I simply crushed some chicken stock cubes in hot water and let that dissolve.
1 cube is typically for 1 litre of water, so I used 1/2 a cube for 500ml.
If you want to use the entire cube for 500ml of water, you can, but adjust the other seasonings. Stock cube has salt in it already, and you don’t want a salty gravy!
If you have homemade Chicken Stock, that’s even better. You might want to add a pinch of salt if your chicken stock is unsalted.
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Singapore Beef Hor Fun Noodles
2
servings10
minutes20
minutesHow to make Beef Hor Fun Noodles, flat rice noodles slathered in a savoury gravy with tender beef slices.
Ingredients
- Noodles
500g Hor Fun Noodles
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- Beef
300g of Beef, sliced thinly
Pinch of baking soda (optional)
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
- Gravy
1 tsp Ginger, minced
1 tsp or 2-3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 Onion
500ml Water or Stock
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
150g Chye Sim (or leafy vegetable of choice)
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Pepper, or to taste
Cornstarch Slurry: 1 tbsp Cornstarch + 3-4 tbsps Water
Directions
- Frying the Hor Fun
- Add the hor fun noodles in a bowl, and add dark soy sauce. Gently stir through to coat the noodles with the sauce.
- To a pan, add oil and set over high heat. Once hot, add the coated hor fun noodles, and spread evenly in the pan. Leave this alone, and allow the bottom to develop a char, about five minutes or so.
- Gently flip over to the other side, and leave this alone again to allow to char. Only some parts of the noodles will char, this is fine. Once cooked, remove from pan and keep to one side.
- Cooking the Beef
- Marinade the beef slices with the light soy sauce, pepper, sugar, cornstarch and the pinch of baking soda, if using. Evenly coat, and allow it to marinade for about 10 minutes.
- In a pan (use the same pan for the fried hor fun noodles), add some oil. Pan fry the marinated beef and allow to sear and cook.
- Once cooked, take it off the pan and keep to one side.
- Gravy
- To the same pan, add more oil if needed. Add ginger, garlic and onions and saute until fragrant.
- Add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Saute this with the ginger, garlic and onions. Lightly scrape the pan with your spatula to mix the beef charring with the sauces.
- Once fragrant, add stock and water, and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Once boiling, add vegetables of choice, as well as the cooked beef.
- Season with pepper and gradually add cornstarch slurry and stir until the gravy thickens.
- Pour in eggs and allow to poach until cooked to desired doneness. Alternatively, you can scramble in the eggs instead. Turn off heat. Gravy is done.
- Assembly
- Plate the hor fun noodles, and pour the gravy over the noodles. Ready to serve!
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