Chinese Beef Noodle Stir-Fry. Vermicelli rice noodles pan fried with juicy tender marinated beef with snap peas and gai-lan in a light savory sauce. A delicious and easy noodle dish for your dinner or lunch needs. Ready in 30 minutes!
What is Chinese Beef Noodle Stir-Fry?
This scrumptious Chinese Beef Noodle Stir-Fry features thin chewy rice noodles that have absorbed that flavourful beef marinade. Then with every bite is tender beef and crunchy veggies. The noodles are lightly seasoned with black pepper, sesame oil, soy and oyster sauce. Serving deliciously as a main dish that is great for the whole family.
This is a Chinese beef rice noodle stir fry that brings me back to my childhood days when my grandmother used to cook lunch for us three kids. She would make a remarkably similar version of this but instead of beef, she would use chicken. I love how she added a little bit more black pepper to give it that punch. My grandmother would also crisp up some of the noodles by frying them for a bit longer in the wok.
Whenever I make fried vermicelli, I think of her and I miss her a lot. She has inspired a lot of my recipes as she was an incredible cook herself who owned a small restaurant with my grandfather in Kate River, Alberta. In fact, we still have some of their plates from the restaurant!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
- Rice Vermicelli
- Flank Steak: or substitute with sirloin tip steak, tri-tip steak, hanger steak, top round steak
- Snap peas
- Gai lan: or substitute with bok choy or yu choy sum
- Garlic
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils.
Noodle sauce
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Dark soy sauce: different than regular soy sauce as it's thicker and darker.
- Black pepper
- Oyster sauce: this gives it that umami flavor. If you don't like oyster, substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce. This is not to be confused with Hoisin sauce, which looks similar.
- Sesame oil
Beef marinade
- Cornstarch
- Regular soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Sugar
- Baking soda: to help tenderize the beef! Do not skip!
- Black pepper
How to make Chinese Beef Noodle Stir-Fry
Soak & Strain Rice Vermicelli
In a large bowl, soak your thin rice noodle vermicelli in hot water (not boiling) for 5 minutes. Strain and set aside.
Marinate Beef
In a bowl, marinate thinly sliced beef with marinade ingredients. Set aside and prepare your other ingredients.
Create Noodle Sauce
In a small bowl, combine noodle sauce ingredients as listed and set aside.
Cook Beef
Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Then add marinated beef and fry until it’s 50% cooked, still a bit red.
Add Aromatics & Greens
Toss in your minced garlic, gai-lan and snap peas and until the vegetables have wilted.
Toss in Noodles with Sauce
Next toss in your strained softened noodles along with noodle sauce. Mix everything together.
Cook until Noodles Absorb Sauces
Cook until the liquids from the pan have been absorbed by the noodles and remove off heat to serve. Enjoy! For a saucier version, mix everything together and while there is still sauce in the pan, remove off heat and serve immediately.
Expert Tips
- Source quality beef steak. This makes a big difference!
- Do not boil your rice noodles. Only soak them in hot water (85 degrees C to be precise) for 5-7 minutes until softened then strain immediately. Because you’re pan frying these later, you only want to soak them to bring them to life. If you boil and then pan fry, get ready for soggy noodles.
- Thinly slice beef to ensure they tenderize.
- Do not skip the baking soda! This is a common Chinese technique to create ultra tender meat.
- Prepare all your ingredients in advance to prevent overcooking your ingredients.
- Make sure the noodles absorb most of the sauces in the pan
Other recipes you may like!
- Bihun Goreng Fried Vermicelli
- Singapore Curry Vermicelli Noodles
- Vegetable Egg Vermicelli
- Thai Glass Noodle Stir-Fry
- Pad Woon Sen
📖 Recipe
Chinese Beef Noodle Stir-Fry (30-min. Recipe)
Ingredients
- 225 gram rice vermicelli
- 284 grams flank steak thinly sliced
- 1 cup snap peas washed and dried
- 3 cups gai Lan chopped
- ½ tablespoon Garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Noodle sauce:
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Oyster sauce
- Sesame oil
Beef marinade:
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large bowl, soak your thin rice noodle vermicelli in hot water (not boiling) for 5 minutes. Strain and set aside.
- In a bowl, marinate thinly sliced beef with marinade ingredients. Set aside and prepare your other ingredients.
- In a small bowl, combine noodle sauce ingredients as listed and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Then add marinated beef and fry until it’s 50% cooked, still a bit red.
- Toss in your minced garlic, gai-lan and snap peas and until the vegetables have wilted.
- Next toss in your strained softened noodles along with noodle sauce. Mix everything together.
- Cook until the liquids from the pan have been absorbed by the noodles and remove off heat to serve. Enjoy! For a saucier version, mix everything together and while there is still sauce in the pan, remove off heat and serve immediately.
Chloe
delicious! I didnt have enough noodles, so i added a side of rice & the family loved it.
Christie Lai
Thanks so much for making my recipe and for the positive review, Chloe! Glad you and your whole family enjoyed it with your side dishes!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your noodle sauce is totally dynamite... I love the flavors. And that was such a smart tip for how to prepare the rice noodles!