Szechuan noodles drenched in spicy beef sauce

When I was a kid, some of my close relatives and I often ate at our neighbourhood Chinese restaurant on Christmas Eve, as it was one of the few places that remained open. The food was always delicious and I would look forward to eating there at other times, too, as there were always leftovers that I'd take to school for my lunch. The only drawback for my family was that a meal would cost so much.

I've since graduated from college and have ventured out on my own. This, and limited funds, have provided me with the opportunity to try my hand at cooking. I soon got excited about how much fun cooking is and decided to leave my comfort zone and be more adventurous by trying different foods. So I asked myself, "What are some of the expensive, tasty foods that I would never have thought to make at home?" Here's recipe number one, with more to come. Bon appétit!

RECIPE (4 servings)

Ingredients:

I'll leave the amounts up to you, but here's what I used:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cups noodles (preferably vermicelli)
• 1/2 cup cooking oil, or as needed (preferably sesame oil for best flavour)
• 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/8 cup crushed peanuts 
• 1 tsp. cornstarch (or 2 tsp. all purpose flour)
• 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/3 cup hoisin sauce (or sweet bean sauce)
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. minced ginger
• 2 tbspn. crushed red pepper
• 1/4 green onions

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef until brown and crumbled, then drain and keep warm on the side.

2. Heat sesame oil in a saucepan, then sauté onions, add carrots and celery until tender. Start boiling the noodles on a separate burner.

3. Whisk beef broth with cornstarch until smooth. Add that mixture — along with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, minced ginger, crushed red pepper — into the saucepan with the veggies in it.

4. Bring this to a boil for one minute (while stirring constantly). Then stir in the ground beef. 

5. Add the cooked noodles, throw in the chopped green onions and some crushed peanuts. Ready to serve!

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Fun fact: For those who don't know, the word "Szechuan" stems from the word "Sichuan", a province belonging to the People's Republic of China located in the southwest of the country. They take a lot of pride in their cuisine, which is known for having four prominent traits: spicy, hot, fresh and fragrant. 

Make this dish, stick to the instructions and you'll see for yourself that this holds true. 

Feel free to contact me. Feedback is appreciated!

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