Asian Noodle Bowl with Steak and Snow Peas
I love making asian food.
I didn’t know this until I tried it, and it wasn’t until eating the leftovers that I discovered how awesome I am at cooking it. And I didn’t even use the right ingredients for this particular recipe. I accidentally bought snap peas instead of snow peas, and I couldn’t find the right cut of steak to use at Whole Foods (I guess because it’s a lame cut of beef, and Whole Foods prides itself on not being lame. Johnnie’s, however, is lame, at least in this area, and had I had the motivation to go 1 mile instead of .25 miles, I probably would have succeeded in my purchase.) I also forgot to buy soy sauce, the most important part of the recipe, because I thought I already had some. Luckily, I had 3 small to-go packets from the last time I got sushi at Whole Foods, and it was the exact amount I needed. This stressed me out a little because I’ve been pretty successful about making bland food, so I’ve been overdoing it with seasonings and sauces, which has been working out in my favor.
The steak was the annoying part, because, once again, the way I cooked the steak took so much more time than stated in the recipe, but for the first time I didn’t OVER cook it. I also don’t have a big enough pan to successfully combine everything together without half of it landing on the stove. This was made apparent when I added the cooked noodles to the snow peas (1 pound of snow peas is a lot more snow peas than I thought it would be.) The Udon noodles had turned into a sticky solid clump in my strainer which made it more difficult to stir them in, but 1/4 of the meal was already on the surface of my stove, so what was a little more…
I was a little disappointed with how this first attempt turned out. (I’d also forgotten to garnish it with peanuts, which was annoying because I had gone through the trouble to BUY peanuts. And, to me, that was what made the meal complete.) It tasted like steak and peas with a side of pasta. And totally inedible with chopsticks. It was good, the peas were crunchy and the steak was juicy (and needed to be cut with a knife, and when was the last time you used a knife in a Chinese restaurant,) but it didn’t really taste asian….
Until I reheated the leftovers the next day. It tasted EXACTLY like leftover Chinese food. I was thrilled. So thrilled, in fact, that I called Jon at work to tell him the great news. (I call him at work when I have important questions or situations I need help with, and sometimes I realize that his definition of those things are quite different than mine.)
A few days later I decided to make this again, but substituting chicken for steak, getting the right peas, and adding some bean sprouts:
And as you can see from the image above, I remembered to add the peanuts.
OVERALL RESULT:
Totally awesome. Totally Chinese. Especially the second variation. I will make this over and over again. I will also be investing in a bigger skillet. Or a wok.
RECIPE:
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 package (8.8 ounces) soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
1 1/2 pounds skirt steak, cut in half or thirds if too large to fit in skillet
1 pound snow peas, stem ends removed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
In a pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles until al dente. Drain; set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Season steak with salt and pepper. Cook (in batches if necessary), turning once, until medium-rare, 2 to 6 minutes per side. Transfer steak to a cutting board, and loosely tent with aluminum foil (reserve skillet with juices).
Add snow peas to skillet, and toss with juices. Cook on medium-high heat, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add noodles, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water; cook until warmed through, about 20 seconds. Transfer to serving bowls. Slice steak; place on top of noodles, and add any accumulated juices. Scatter with peanuts, and serve.
