Beef Lo Mein

The one thing I hate about living in Redmond is there are no good Chinese restaurants around.  I'm a fan of Chinese food. Sadly it's usually fattening and can get pricey. 

I have several recipes for Beef Lo Mein and have not tried a single one. The thing I like about making my own Chinese food is I can control the sodium and fat. 

There's a couple of things I'd do differently when I make this again. First off I'd use soba noodles.  I was trying to use up what was in my pantry so opted for linguini.  Soba would have been way better I just didn't feel like driving across town to get them.

I'd also follow the instructions and include the Chili - Garlic sauce. Somehow I missed it in the cooking process. I really like chili garlic sauce and think it would have really enhanced the sauce.

Photo by Jenn Wraspir (me)

Beef Lo Mein
Courtesy of Cooking for Two 2011
Serves 2

3 T hoisin sauce
2 T soy sauce (I use low sodium)
2 tsp sesame oil
8 oz flank steak, trimmed and sliced thin across the grain on bias
1/3 c low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 T vegetable oil
6 oz broccoli florets, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 1/2 T water
1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, sliced into 1/2 inch strips and halved crosswise (As you can imagine I did not include the bell pepper)
1 bunch scallions, white parts sliced thin, green parts cut into 1 inch pieces
6 oz fresh Chinese noodles or 4 oz dried linguine
1 1/2 tsp Asian Chili-garlic sauce

Whisk hoisin, soy and sesame oil together in a bowl. Measure 1 1/2 T of mixture into separate bowl and stir in beef; cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes - or up to 1 hour. (I left mine for 1 hour). Whisk broth and cornstarch into remaining mixture; set aside. In separate small bowl, combine garlic, ginger and 1/2 tsp vegetable oil.

Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in 10" skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add bef in single layer and cook without stirring for 1 minute. Stir beef and continue to cook until browned, about 1 minute; transfer to large bowl.

Wipe now empty skillet clean with paper towels. Add 1/2 tsp vegetable oil, and heat over high heat until just smoking.  Add broccoli and cook for 30 seconds. Add water, cover, steam until broccoli is bright green and begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until water has evaporated and broccoli begins to brown, about 2 minutes, transfer to bowl with beef.

Add remaining 1 tsp vegetable oil and bell pepper to now empty skillet and cook over high heat until crisp/tender and spotty brown, about 2 minutes. Add scallions and continue to cook until wilted, 2-3 minutes. clear center of skillet, add garlic- ginger mixture into vegetables. Stir in cooked beef and broccoli with any accumulated juices. Stir in broth mixture and simmer until sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package. Reserve 1/2 c pasta water, then drain noodles and return them to pot. Add beef mixture and chili garlic sauce and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed to loosen up the sauce.

Eat immediately!!!

For the record, I also think if you chilled this and ate it the next day as a noodle salad it would be just as good.