Chinese New Year Eve - Yi Mein (E-Fu Noodles)

This is a family filled weekend with so much food and festivities and of course red envelopes! I love Chinese New Year! :)

Being that my mom will be making most of the dishes (as usual), I decided to help her out with some of the cooking as well. This also creates some extra mother and daughter bonding! My mom really is such an inspiration to my cooking (and I know I keep saying this) - I really do not know how she does it sometimes. I do love cooking/ baking but I do not know if I can make 8-10 dishes in one day! She would make about 8-10 dishes during the holidays all by herself (and this is cooking for 10-15 people, hence the portion sizes are bigger, which means more cutting, slicing, etc, which basically means more prepping!)

Today, I decided to help her out with making Yi Mein (E-Fu Noodles). If you have ever been to a Chinese banquet dinner, you will know this as being one of the last savory dishes to to be served. (Now of course this recipe is a variation than the banquet kind. The banquet style E-Fu noodle does not use white button mushrooms (only shiitake), carrots, and beef). The E-Fu noodle symbolizes longevity and is cooked sometimes during someone's birthday.

Yi Mein is a type of Cantonese egg noodle with a very chewy texture. It is very airy and has a sponge-like, elastic texture because of the carbonated water used when making the dough. The noodles then get fried and gets dried in a round, ramen-like brick shape. You will notice these in Chinese supermarkets as they are packaged in clear plastic bags, usually in round shapes.

I used 4 of these round E-Fu noodles.

Put all 4 round noodles into boiling water. You only need to boil it for about 5-8 minutes. Try a strand. If it is still hard in the middle, cook a little longer.

Add some oil and mix well.

Shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Marinate sliced beef (I took a picture before mixing as you can still see sugar, salt on it!)

Close up of small shreds of carrots (don't these look like sweet potato fries since they are zoomed in? Hm...now I feel like making sweet potato fries...) :)

Shitake mushrooms, white button mushrooms, carrots

All this goodness in one place! Yum. I'm getting hungry as I am writing this post. (This is the only bad thing I can think of about blogs because while I am typing and looking at pictures of food, I feel hungry all over again). Other than that, I love blogging!

RECIPE
Can serve at least 6 people

4 round E-Fu noodles
1/2 lb beef (optional), sliced thin
1/4 of a carrot (thinly sliced for coloring)
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin
1 box 8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced thin
scallion (head), sliced thin, slanted
10 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 TBSP dark soy sauce
1.5 TBSP light soy sauce
3 TBSP oyster sauce

MARINATE BEEF:
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp cooking wine
1 tsp corn starch
dash of salt, pepper and sugar

Boil half full water in a wok. Once it is boiling, put the E-Fu noodles in for about 5 - 8 minutes. Try one to make sure it is not hard in the middle but do not overcook as you will be stir-frying it later. Pour it into a strainer and add about 3 TBSP oil and mix thoroughly. Put this on the side for now.

Marinate the beef and let sit for at least 20 minutes. In a frying pan, heat up oil. Add 1/3 of the minced garlic. After 2 minutes, add the beef and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook as the beef will be hard and too chewy. Once it looks cooked, take this out and put to the side.

In the wok, add 2 TBSP oil in high heat, add the remaining 2/3 of garlic. After 2 minutes, add the sliced carrots and shiitake mushrooms. After 2 minutes, add the button mushrooms. Cook about 2 minutes and add the E-Fu noodles. Stir and add light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce. Add in the scallions and the beef. Stir and serve!

President Obama also wishes you a Happy New Year! :)