Nui Xao Bo or Vietnamese Macaroni

There is a great Chinese-Vietnamese restaurant that is 24-7 called Tan Tan in Houston.  It's wrapped up in so many great childhood memories for me.  They have this one dish that we kids would occasionally order that is a weirdly amazing and umami spin on macaroni.  Ketchup-y stir fry with beef and macaroni.  When I was looking up recipes, I saw that in Vietnam they actually use macaroni made with rice (something Vietnamese people did to mimic the Italian noodles with what they had).  I was unable to get rice noodle macaroni, and made it with HEB Veggie Pasta Ridged Elbow pasta and it turned out pretty good.

Nui Xao Bo, Vietnamese Macaroni
Recipe adapted from food52
Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 tbs. low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. oyster sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. powdered chicken bouillon
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 bunch green onion, sliced-white and greens separated
  • 1 lb. thin cut ribeye, sliced across the grain into about 1/4" slices
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • half yellow onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 tbs. tomato paste
  • 2 tbs. ketchup
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 tbs. vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp. sriracha
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
  1. In a medium bowl, stir together the sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic powder, powdered chicken bouillon, whites of the green onion, sugar and black pepper.  Add ribeye and toss to coat.  Set aside for 15 minutes.
  2. Cook pasta per directions, shortening time by about 3-5 minutes.  Drain and add small amount of vegetable oil to prevent sticking.  I do this in the colander I drain it in.
  3. Heat 1 tbs. vegetable oil in a wok or large pan over medium heat and add garlic and yellow onion and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add marinated beef and turn up heat to medium-high.  Cook until no longer pink, about 2-5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.
  4. Add  1 tbs. vegetable oil to wok and heat over medium heat.  Add macaroni and tomato paste and ketchup and toss to coat.  Add beef back into pan and combine until heated through.  
  5. Plate and add green onions.  ENJOY!


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