Chinese Egg Noodles with Beef & Hot Bean Sauce

By á-25087

Chinese Egg Noodles with Beef and Hot Bean Sauce is the perfect meal filled with the savory and spicy flavors of whole bean sauce, chili paste, fresh scallions, sesame oil, vibrant Asian eggplant, fresh ginger, lemongrass, and zesty garlic. The base of this recipe is affordable ground beed and dried Chinese egg noodles, which creates a hearty base for the scrumptious aromatics and veggies.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoon canola oil or peanut oil
• 4 tablespoons whole bean sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 chopped scallions
• 2 Asian eggplants, the tops cut off, sliced in 3/4-inch coins
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 (0.75-pound) dried Chinese egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemongrass, finely minced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Preparation

Step 1

First, fill a large pot of water and cook the noodles according to their package directions.

While the noodles are cooking, heat the cooking oil in a skillet, then add the ginger, lemongrass, and garlic, and sauté for 1 minute, stirring quickly and constantly. Add the ground beef and sauté it, breaking it up completely and into grains, until it is fully cooked.

At that point, add the whole bean sauce and the chili paste. Stir everything together. Add the sugar and the water, and stir again. Add the eggplant coins, and bring the liquid to a simmer. The water should not be covering the eggplants—they should be sitting in it with the liquid level about a third of the way up their sides.

Cover the pan. Cook on a gentle simmer for about 6 or 7 minutes.

When the pot of water boils, add the Chinese egg noodles. Stir to make sure the noodles do not stick together, bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the noodles are al dente.

Uncover the pan with meat sauce in it, then raise the heat and cook it until the liquid is cooked down and there is only a small amount of liquid in the bottom of the pan. There should be only enough liquid to coat the bottom of the pan in a very thin layer. At this point, stir in most of the scallions, reserving about a teaspoon for garnish, and stir in the sesame oil. If the noodles are not cooked yet, turn off the heat and cover the pan.

When the noodles are cooked, drain them. Serve this by plating the noodles and then topping with the sauce and then the scallion garnish. Serve immediately.