Rice Noodles with Soy Sauce, Chinese Broccoli, and Beef

Kwaytiow Paht Si-Yu

To complete the meal, I decided to make rice noodles with soy sauce, Chinese broccoli, and beef. Again, I used Nancie McDermott's Real Thai - The Best of Thailand's Regional Cooking for the recipe.

Here is the recipe for Kwaytiow Paht Si-Yu:
2 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce or 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce and 1 tablespoon molasses or sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic4 cups Chinese broccoli, cut into 2-inch by 1-inch strips, or 3 cups small broccoli florets
1/2 pound flank steak, thinly sliced across the grain in strips 2-inches by 1-inch
1 pound soft, fresh flat rice noodle sheets, cut lengthwise into strips 1-inch wide
2 eggs, lightly beaten

• Combine the soy sauce, fish sauce, and pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

• Heat wok over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and swirl to coat the surface. When the oil is very hot, drop a piece of the garlic into the pan. If it sizzles immediately, the oil is ready. Add the garlic and toss until it begins to turn golden, about 15 seconds. Add the Chinese broccoli and stir-fry until tender, bright green, and shiny, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan to a platter.

• Add a little more oil to the wok, swirl to coat, and heat for 15 seconds. Add the beef and stir-fry until it is no longer pink, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan to the platter with the broccoli.

• Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok and heat for 15 seconds. Add the noodles and toss until separated and heated through. Push the noodles to one side of the wok. Put 2 teaspoons of oil into the center of the wok and add the eggs. Cook without stirring for about 30 seconds. Scoop and toss everything gently, scrambling the eggs and mixing the ingredients together.

• Add the soy sauce mixture and the reserved beef and broccoli and stir-fry until the noodles, meat, and vegetables are lightly coated with sauce, about 1 minute. Transfer to a heated platter and serve at once with small bowls of sauce.

Serves 4.

Of all the dishes that I made, this one presented me with the most challenges. I could not find fresh noodles to save my life! I ended up using wide, rice stick noodles. So before I added them to the wok, I first put them in a very large bowl, covered them with warm water and let them sit for about 30-45 minutes. I also used tamari + sugar for my soy sauce and regular broccoli florets from the grocery store.

The dish was pretty easy to make and cooked up fairly fast (minus the prep time for the noodles). I was a bit disappointed with the dish though. I found it to be rather bland and ended up adding lots of the sweet-chili sauce to it for more flavor (it definitely needed more sauce). I think in the future, I will reduce the amount of noodles and add more sauce. This made more than 4 servings, I think due to the noodles and was also hard to mix together in the wok (maybe I need a bigger wok?).

All-in-all, I am pretty happy with my attempts at Thai cooking! I would love to make the satay sometime and would also love to make a noodle dish with peanut sauce or even a delicious Rama! I really loved the sweet-chili sauce and thought that it accompanied the meal fantastically!

Thank you Nancie McDermott for your tasty recipes!