Stir-fry beef penne

Vietnamese version (bản tiếng Việt): click here!

Beside the stir-fry beef noodles, stir-fry beef penne (“Nui xào bò”) is also a popular street food in Vietnam. By its name, stir-fry beef penne could be made by replacing the instant noodles in the stir-fry beef noodles with penne. However, I realized that the taste would be enhanced with some slices of tomato so let’s make it again! And even though I did not use any vegetables here, you are welcome to use any veggies you like for this stir-fry recipe (julienned carrots, onions, cabbage and bell peppers are recommended).

You might ask, with tomato and beef and penne, does it sound like spaghetti? No, it is very far from spaghetti as sliced tomato is used and NOT tomato paste, thin-sliced beef is used and NOT ground beef or meat balls. And the dish is expected to have no dripping sauce. For vegetarian/vegan version, replace the beef with mushrooms.

Ingredients: (for 2 servings)

• Thin-sliced beef: 160 g
• Roma tomato: 2
• Garlic: 3 cloves
• Shallot: 1/2 of big shallot
• Penne: 200 g (I used Vietnamese mung bean penne/long macarroni but you can use any penne you want)
• Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons
• Water (for boiling the penne): ~1 L
• Seasoning:
  • 1/2 teaspoons of oyster sauce
  • 1/3 teaspoons of seasoning powder
  • 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoons of black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
• Cilantro as garnish. Sprinkle some more black pepper when serving.

Preparation:

• Finely chop the garlic and shallot. Cut the roma tomatoes into wedges and don’t forget to remove the seeds.
• Thin sliced beef flank is usually used in this recipe. In a medium bowl, add the thin-sliced beef, 1/2 amount of the chopped shallot and garlic, all the seasoning and marinate the beef for 10-15 minutes.
  (And while the beef is being marinated, you can deal with other vegetables, such as julienne bell pepper, carrots or onions…)
• In a 2qt. saucepan (or a medium pot), boil ~1L of water on medium-high heat. Don’t forget to add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to the boiling water. Then, add the penne to the boiling water and cook till soft (for this mung bean penne, it takes around 15 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the penne from sticking to the bottom. When the penne is fully cooked, drain it and set aside. (This step can be done before marinating the beef)
• Place a stir-fry pan on medium heat, and add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. When the oil is hot, add the remaining chopped garlic and shallot and stir until fragrant. Add the cut tomato and stir-fry until the tomato is softened a little (around 5 minutes). Add the marinated beef to the pan and stir-fry until the beef is cooked (around 5 minutes). Quickly add the cooked penne to the pan and mix well to evenly incorporate beef and tomato to penne. The penne will also be well seasoned from the stir-fry beef and tomato in this step.
• After that, turn of the heat and the stir-fry beef penne is ready to be served. Top with fresh cilantro and some black pepper as garnish.

Total time: 35 minutes

And that’s it! Hope you enjoy the recipe!