Korean Beef Stir Fry with Egg Noodles

A Korean beef stir-fry that’s as good, possibly better, than your favourite take out? Absolutely! If you’re a regular visitor to the Bibby’s Kitchen, you’ll know we’re about vibrant food with big flavours. Although I love spending most of my days in the kitchen, there are times when you need quick and easy. That’s when this a Korean beef stir fry saves the day. It’s an effortless with protein, carbs and vegetables all in one. The key to a good stir fry is the sauce – sticky, spicy, sweet and salty.

Can I swap the beef for other forms of protein?

The recipe is easily adapted to vegetarian. Swap the beef with chicken, strips of pork tenderloin or prawns. For a vegetarian or vegan option, tofu is perfect in which case, I might add aubergines, too. If you’re avoiding carbs, ditch the egg noodles and toss with zucchini spirals.

A scattering of toasted sesame seeds adds a delicious nuttiness. I think it’s essential, really. You can also try toasted cashews, which works well with many Asian dishes.

Korean Beef Stir-fry with Egg Noodles

Serves 4

For the sauce

45 ml (3 tablespoons) soy sauce or tamari
5 ml (1 teaspoon ) Sriracha sauce
10 ml (2 teaspoons) sesame oil
160 ml (2/3 cup) chicken or vegetable stock
30 ml (2 tablespoons) lime or lemon juice
15 ml (1 tablespoon) honey or maple syrup
3 cm knob ginger, grated
freshly ground black pepper
5 ml (1 teaspoon) cornflour

For the stir fry

200 g egg noodles or rice noodles
30 ml (2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
15 ml (1 tablespoon) sesame seed oil
2 carrots, julienned
1  red and yellow pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
200 g  sugar snaps
250 g button mushrooms, diced
3 zucchini, julienned
350 g fillet steak, thinly sliced
handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
30 g (2 tablespoons) toasted white and black sesame seeds

Let’s make our Korean Beef Stir Fry

For the sauce, whisk all the ingredients together in a small jug and set aside.

Cook the noodles in salted water until just tender but still firm enough to hold together. Drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wok or large based frying pan. Add the carrots and sweet peppers and cook for several minutes on a high heat. Season lightly and remove from the pan.

Add a drop more oil before adding the sugar snaps, mushrooms and courgettes. Stir fry for several minutes, season lightly, remove from the pan and add to the carrots and peppers.

Heat the sesame oil and once hot, add the steak and cook for about 3 minutes. Pour in 1/4 cup of the sauce and stir to coat the meat.

Add all the vegetables to the pan and pour over the remaining sauce.

Toss gently and allow the sauce to thicken and the vegetables to heat through. Pile in the noodles and chopped basil.

Give the stir fry a final toss and serve with toasted sesame seeds.

For more easy one-pan suppers, you might like to try these family favourites:

Spicy beef stir fry with sweet peppers and mango

Quick pesto cream chicken casserole

Skinny Chicken Cacciatore with mozzarella