Ingredients

• 500 g beef, very thin stripsrump, sirloin or bavette, sliced thin across the grain or it cooks chewy
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• 250 g noodlesmedium egg or wheat, sturdy enough to toss without breaking
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 25 g butter
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 red chillisliced
• 3 spring onionssliced

Method

1. 01

   Coat the beef

   Toss the thinly sliced beef with the cornflour and a good pinch of salt until every strip is dry and dusty. Shake off the excess in a sieve. Loose cornflour burns in the oil and clouds the pan.

   500 g beef, very thin strips · 3 tbsp cornflour

2. 02

   Fry in small batches

   Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat until it shimmers. Fry the beef in three or four batches, 2-3 minutes each, spreading it out and leaving it for the first minute, until dark and crisp at the edges. Lift each batch onto a wire rack, not a plate. Steam trapped underneath softens the crust in seconds.

   2 tbsp neutral oil

   Batches, and a rackA crowded pan drops in temperature and the beef steams grey. Paper softens the underside.

3. 03

   Cook the noodles

   Cook the noodles to just under the packet time, drain and rinse briefly with cold water to stop them cooking, then toss with a drop of oil.

   250 g noodles

4. 04

   Reduce the sauce first

   Wipe the pan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the grated garlic cloves for 20 seconds. Add the 2 tbsp soy, 2 tbsp sweet chilli, rice vinegar and brown sugar and bubble for 1-2 minutes until syrupy and clinging to the spoon. The sauce must be thick before the beef arrives.

   25 g butter · 4 garlic cloves · 1 tbsp rice vinegar · 1 tsp brown sugar

   Syrupy before anything goes inReduce the sauce right down first. Thin sauce is what turns crisp beef soggy.

   Everything ready firstFirst batch to table is under ten minutes. There is no time to catch up.

5. 05

   Toss the noodles

   Add the cooked and drained noodles to the syrupy sauce and toss over medium heat for about a minute with tongs, lifting rather than stirring, until every strand is coated and glossy with no dry patches. If the sauce has tightened too far and is gripping the pan, loosen it with a tablespoon of the noodle cooking water.

   250 g noodles

6. 06

   Beef at the last second

   Take the pan off the heat, add the crisp beef and toss for no more than 20-30 seconds. Any longer in a wet sauce and the crust you worked for dissolves.

7. 07

   Serve

   Scatter over the sliced red chilli and spring onions and serve immediately, straight from the pan.