Which Chinese noodle dish is made with flat rice noodles, beef, and bean sprouts?

Which Chinese noodle dish is made with flat rice noodles, beef, and bean sprouts? The answer is beef chow fun.

Beef chow fun is a Cantonese stir-fry of sliced beef, wide flat rice noodles, and bean sprouts. In Chinese, it is commonly called ganchao niuhe, meaning “dry-fried beef Shahe noodles.” The dish is a staple in Guangdong, Hong Kong, yum cha restaurants, and cha chaan tengs overseas.

Its noodles are known as hor fun or Shahe fen. They originated in Shahe, a town associated with Guangzhou, and are broad, smooth, and delicate. Cooks must stir-fry them quickly over high heat so they remain intact while developing wok hei, the smoky, almost charred flavor associated with a hot wok.

Beef chow fun is easy to confuse with chow mein or lo mein, but those dishes typically use wheat noodles rather than wide rice noodles. “Chow fun” can also describe several preparations: dry-fried versions commonly use beef or chicken, while wet-fried versions often feature seafood and a thickened sauce. The beef-and-bean-sprout combination identifies the classic form.