Beef chow fun, also known as beef ho fun, gōn cháau ngàuh hó, or gānchǎo níuhé in Chinese (乾炒牛河) meaning "dry fried beef Shahe noodles", is a staple Cantonese dish made from stir-frying

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

, '' hor fun'' (wide rice noodles) and

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s. It is commonly found in '' yum cha'' restaurants in

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and overseas, as well as in ''

cha chaan teng ''Cha chaan teng'' ( zh, t=茶餐廳, cy=chàhchāantēng, l=tea restaurant), often called a Hong Kong-style cafe or diner in English, is a type of restaurant that originated in Hong Kong. ''Cha chaan tengs'' are commonly found in Hong Kong, Ma ...

s''. Chow fun, or stir-fried hor fun (''

shahe fen ''Shahe fen'' (, also simply ''hor fun / he fen'' ) or ''guotiao'' (, also kway teow) is a type of wide Chinese noodle made from rice. It is often stir-fried with meat and/or vegetables in a dish called ''chao fen'' (炒粉; pinyin: chǎo f ...

'') noodles, is any number of different individual preparations (and could be compared to the number of

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

varieties in United States cuisine). In the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, it is called "beef hofan" ( 河粉). The main ingredient of this dish is ''hor fun'' noodles, which is also known as ''shahe fen'', originating in the town of Shahe in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. It is a wide, flat noodle that is cut into shape ('' qiefen''). The most common methods of cooking ''hor fun'' are in soup or stir fried. ''Hor fun'' can be dry-fried (fried only with condiments such as soy sauce) or wet-fried (fried with a thickening sauce). Today, the dry-fried variant is much more common, to the extent that the method is usually not specified—"hor fun" on a restaurant menu would refer to dry-fried hor fun. Further, wet-fried hor fun usually includes seafood, while dry-fried hor fun usually includes beef or chicken. Sliced beef is marinated first. Then, the beef is seared in a wok; this is important to obtain the signature taste of beef chow fun ( wok hei). Other ingredients and the ''hor fun'' noodles are added, then combined with the beef and sauce. The

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are then

stir-fried Stir frying ( zh, c= 炒, p=chǎo, w=ch'ao3, cy=cháau) is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries ...

with the rest of the chow fun until they are tender and the dish is ready to serve. An important factor in the making of this dish is ''wok hei'' (). The cooking must be done over a high flame and the stirring must be done quickly. Not only must the ''hor fun'' be stirred quickly, it must not be handled too strongly or it will break into pieces. The amount of oil also needs to be controlled very well; if not, the excess oil or dry texture will ruin the dish. Because of these factors, this dish is a major test for chefs in Cantonese cooking. This ''wok hei'' provides an almost charred flavor which is hard to obtain without high heat.

History

The origin of chow fun is unknown, but there is a legend concerning the origin of dry-fried chow fun:

References

{{Guangdong topics Beef dishes Cantonese cuisine Chinese noodle dishes Chinese meat dishes Fried noodles Hong Kong noodle dishes Soy-based foods

History

See also

References