Spicy Kung Pao Beef Noodle Stir Fry
Serves 4
½ cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2½ tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil, divided
1 tablespoon garlic chili sauce (I didn’t have this so I used 1 teaspoon Gochujang + ¼ teaspoon garlic powder + 1 teaspoon spicy red pepper paste)
⅓ cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 pound steak for stir frying, thinly sliced (flank steak, chuck, or ribeye works)
6-8 larger mushrooms of your choice (I used Baby Bella, but Shiitake is also a good choice)
1 pound fresh Chinese egg noodles (or any stir fry noodle you prefer)
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 carrots, julienned
½ cup red cabbage, shredded
⅓ cup green onions
¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
¼ cup raw, unsalted cashews, coarsely chopped
In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil, garlic chili sauce (or gochujang, garlic powder, and spicy red pepper paste). Heat over medium heat and whisk everything together. Bring to a boil.
In a small bowl, combine water and cornstarch. Mix together to make a slurry and add to the soy sauce mixture. Stir everything together and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the steak and stir fry until cooked to your preferred doneness. When done, remove beef from the pan and set aside.
While the beef is cooking, you can start preparing the noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your noodles until they are al dente (cooking time will differ between noodle types and whether they are fresh or dried noodles, so follow the cooking instructions according to the packaging). Drain the noodles and set aside.
Add the mushrooms to the pan where you cooked the beef. Cook them until almost cooked, stirring occasionally. Add in most of the carrots, bell peppers, and all of the cabbage and incorporate everything together (I like having some fresh crunch in my finished dish which is why I don’t cook all of the carrots or the bell peppers). Cook veggie mixture for 2-3 minutes. Turn heat off and add in the sauce, cooked noodles, beef, remaining carrots and bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, and cashews. Combine everything together well and let sit for a few moments.
Enjoy!
