Chicken chow fun with wide rice noodles
Written by Estelle & Alice for The Wok House
Straight from the fridge, a block of fresh rice noodles is as stiff as cardboard, and it snaps into little pieces as soon as it hits the wok. I got into the habit of giving it a minute in the microwave before peeling the ribbons apart one by one: since then, the noodles reach the plate whole. The rest moves fast, with chicken breast marinated for ten minutes, an onion, a pepper, some celery and two soy sauces. Allow half an hour for 4 people.
Chow fun (炒河粉) is a classic of Cantonese cooking. Its noodles, called ho fun or sha he fen, are named after the town of Shahe, now part of Guangzhou: they are wide ribbons of steamed rice batter. They're stir-fried over a high heat with light soy sauce for salt and dark soy sauce for colour. The best-known version is made with beef; this one uses chicken. Rice noodles are more fragile than the egg noodles in chow mein: two portions at most per batch, and you turn them with the spatula rather than stirring them.
Chicken chow fun (chao he fen)
Fresh wide rice noodles stir-fried in batches with chicken breast marinated in cornflour, onion, pepper and celery, coloured with dark soy sauce.
For 3 or 4 people, stick with a 32cm wok and cook in two batches. Above 400g, the noodles pack down, cool the wok and break when you turn them.
Ingredients
For the chicken
For the noodles
For the sauce
To cook and serve
Equipment
- 32cm wok, well-seasoned carbon steel or non-stick
- Wok spatula or long chopsticks
- Microwave or a pan of hot water, to soften the noodles
- Bowl for the sauce
- Warm serving dish, if you cook 2 batches or more
Method
Marinate the chicken
Cut the chicken breast into thin 5mm slices. In a bowl, mix 1 tbsp cornflour, ¼ tsp salt and 2 tbsp water, add the chicken and massage it until all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in 2 tsp oil and leave to marinate while you prepare everything else.
Soften the noodles
Fresh noodles: if they are hard or straight from the fridge, microwave each block for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or dip it in hot water for 1 minute and drain. Then peel the ribbons apart one by one with your fingers; if they are still in sheets, cut them into 2cm strips. Cold and stiff, they would break in the wok. Dried noodles: cover them with just-boiled water, off the heat, for 5 to 8 minutes, until they wrap around a finger while still firm to the bite. Rinse them in cold water, drain them well and toss them with a few drops of oil so they don't stick.
Prepare the sauce and vegetables
In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp dark soy sauce and 1 tsp sesame oil: once the noodles are in the wok, you won't have time to look for bottles. Slice the onion, cut the pepper into 5mm strips and slice the celery on the diagonal, 5mm thick. Cut the spring onions into 4cm lengths and keep everything within reach, next to the hob.
Sear the chicken
Heat the wok over a high heat. Sear the chicken in 2 batches: for each batch, pour in 1 tablespoon oil, wait until it shimmers, spread the slices out in one layer and leave them untouched for 1 minute. Stir-fry for 1 minute more. As soon as they have lost their pink colour, set them aside on a plate: they will finish cooking with the noodles.
Stir-fry the noodles
Cook the noodles in 2 batches: for each one, work through steps 5 to 8 with an equal share of noodles, vegetables, chicken and sauce. Pour 1 tablespoon oil into the hot wok, without removing what's left from the chicken, and spread out the noodles. Leave them untouched for 30 seconds, then turn them over in clumps for 1 minute, sliding the spatula underneath, or lift them with chopsticks. Move on as soon as they start to soften and brown in places, without waiting for them to be very tender.
Add the vegetables
Add this batch's share of onion, pepper and celery on top of the noodles. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, turning everything from the bottom up, until the vegetables are glossy: they should stay crunchy.
The chicken and the sauce
Return this batch's share of chicken with its juices. Stir the bowl of sauce, drizzle its share over the noodles, then gently turn everything over for 1 minute, without crushing it. It's ready when all the noodles are the same mahogany brown and the chicken is white all the way through.
Finish and serve
Add this batch's share of spring onions and turn two or three times, just to wilt them. Tip the batch into a warm dish, wipe the wok with kitchen paper if any sauce has stuck to the bottom, then go back to step 5 with the next one. Serve as soon as the last batch is ready: rice noodles harden as they cool.
Wok tips
- In a carbon steel wok, heat the empty metal until it just starts to smoke, then add the oil: the noodles sear on contact and pick up the slightly charred flavour the Cantonese call wok hei, the breath of the wok. Never heat a non-stick wok empty: add the oil first and stop when it shimmers, before it smokes.
- 400g noodles at most per batch in a 32cm wok, which is two portions. Any more and the wok cools: the noodles cook in their own steam, clump together and break when you try to separate them.
- Don't stir in circles. Slide the spatula under the noodles and turn them over in clumps, or lift them with long chopsticks: the rice ribbons tear as soon as they rub against the side. If they stick to a carbon steel wok, it isn't hot enough or not yet well seasoned: don't scrape, wait 30 seconds, and they come away once golden.
- On induction, only a flat base touches the hob and heats. Preheat a carbon steel wok empty, for 2 minutes at full power; a non-stick one heats up with its oil, without waiting for smoke. Then keep the same power from one batch to the next.
Variations
- With beef, the best-known version, beef ho fun (gon chow ngau ho in Cantonese): 400g flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain, with the same marinade. Replace the pepper and celery with 200g beansprouts, added at step 8 with the spring onions.
- Beansprouts and Chinese chives: for 4 people, add 150g beansprouts and a bunch of Chinese chives (jiu cai), cut into 4cm lengths, at step 8. Thirty seconds is enough: they should stay crunchy.
- Instead of dark soy sauce: 1 tablespoon extra light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon soft light brown sugar for 4 people. The noodles will stay pale golden instead of brown.
- Gluten-free: 3 tablespoons wheat-free tamari in place of both soy sauces, for 4 people. Without the dark soy sauce, the dish will be paler.
Storage
Chow fun is best eaten straight from the wok. Leftovers keep for two days in the fridge in an airtight container, but the rice noodles harden: reheat them in the wok over a medium heat with 2 tablespoons water, turning them gently for 2 minutes, until they are soft again. In the microwave, they dry out at the edges.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between chow fun, chow mein and lo mein?
Chow fun is made with wide rice noodles, stir-fried over a high heat until they take on the colour of the sauce. Chow mein and lo mein use egg noodles made from wheat: in chow mein they brown in the oil, while in lo mein they are just heated through and coated in more sauce.
Where can I buy fresh ho fun noodles?
In the chilled section of Asian supermarkets, in trays or bags, labelled ho fun, sa ho fun or wide rice noodles. Those sold fresh that day, unrefrigerated, should be used the same day: in the fridge, they harden. Trays from the chilled section need warming before you separate them.
Can I make chow fun with dried rice noodles?
Yes, allow 300g dried wide rice noodles for 4 people. Cover them with just-boiled water, off the heat, for 5 to 8 minutes, then rinse them in cold water as soon as they are soft but still firm. Overcooked, they fall apart in the wok.
Why do my rice noodles break in the wok?
Usually because they went in cold, or the wok was overloaded. Warm them before separating them, cook batches of 400g at most and turn them with the spatula rather than stirring. Stop cooking early: they finish softening in the sauce.
