Asian Steak with Stir Fried Noodles

This is the extent of my Chinese cooking. And I don't know that it even counts as real Chinese food. Don't hold that against me.

Asian Steak

One 3" piece of ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
1 small skirt steak or flank steak, about 1 1/2 to 2 lbs.
1/4 cup dry sherry
3 Tb. soy sauce
2 Tb. olive oil
Salt & pepper

Peel half the ginger; finely grate to make 1 Tb. Thinly slice the remaining half. Scatter grated and sliced ginger, garlic, brown sugar, cinnamon in a non-reactive baking dish. Cut steak against the grain into three 6" pieces, place in dish. Pour sherry, soy sauce, and olive oil over the steak. Marinate, turning several times for 30 minutes or refrigerate for several hours. Can probably mix all ingredients together and marinate meat in a zip lock bag.

Heat broiler. Season steak with salt and pepper; transfer to a broiler pan. Broil until brown and just charred, about 4 minutes. 5-6 minutes if using flank steak. Turn, broil another 3 minutes for medium rare. 4-5 minute if using flank. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for five minutes. Cut into thin strips.


Chinese Fried Noodles

2 packages of flavored ramen noodles
3 eggs, beaten
vegetable oil
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, peeled & grated
1/2 cup green peas
1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
2 Tb. sesame oil
soy sauce

Boil ramen noodles until softened, without flavor packets. Drain noodles and set aside.

Heat 1 Tb. oil in a small skillet. Scramble the eggs and cook until firm. Set aside.

In a separate skillet (or same skillet as the eggs), cook the vegetables until just tender. Set aside.

Combine 2 Tb. sesame oil with 1 Tb. of vegetable oil in a skillet. Fry noodles in oil for 3 to 5 minutes over medium heat, turning regularly. Sprinkle soy sauce, sesame oil and desired amount of flavor packets over noodles and toss to coat. I use less than half a packet for the noodles. Add vegetables and egg and continue cooking, turning frequently for another 5 minutes. If you want to get the noodles crispy, let the noodles sit for a few minutes.

My "authentic" Chinese food.

I use different vegetables each time I make the noodles. Typically I'll use carrots and the red bell pepper, but this time I added snap peas. Other times I've used broccoli. It's whatever kind of veggies you feel like using. And I usually change up the protein. I've used shrimp a lot in the past.

The steak with this dish went really well together. It has a sweetness to it from the brown sugar that I really like. The prominent flavors are probably the ginger and brown sugar. Of course, adjust seasonings to your taste. I would let it sit overnight if I could just to intensify the flavor even more. I did use flank steak for this since I couldn't find skirt steak and it was very tender. So yummy.

Growing up, I loved pan fried noodles at Chinese restaurants. And I get my fix through this dish. It is a bit weird using ramen noodles, but it's so easy. And the flavor packets give it a little something extra without the fuss. I accidentally let the noodles sit a little too long on one side this time and it made some of the noodles nice and crunchy. It's a happy mistake and one that I'll repeat next time. After adding a bit of the sesame oil, soy sauce, and flavor packets at the end, try the noodles to make sure you don't over season.

Such an easy meal and I love it. It's the only close to authentic Chinese food I know how to make. Give it a try! Happy cooking!