Noodles With Honey-Balsamic Beef

yooper's Note:

I found this winner in the current issue of "Midwest Living." It intrigued me so much that I immediately went shopping for the ingredients. I was not dissapointed, the combination of the honey and vinegar with the added heat of the red pepper flakes was wonderful!

• Total Time: 23 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 113.39 g angel hair pasta (I used 4 packets of ramen noodles)
• 340.19 g beef sirloin steaks or 340.19 g beef top round steak
• 177.44 ml beef broth
• 44.37 ml reduced sodium soy sauce
• 29.58 ml cornstarch
• 29.58 ml balsamic vinegar
• 29.58 ml honey
• 1.23 ml crushed red pepper flakes
• 14.79 ml cooking oil
• 14.79 ml minced fresh ginger
• 946.36 ml sliced bok choy or 946.36 ml baby bok choy
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 medium sweet red peppers, cut into julienne strips

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
2. Keep warm.
3. Trim the fat from the beef.
4. Partially freeze beef and then thinly slice into thin strips across the grain.
5. In a small bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, vinegar, honey and red pepper.
6. Set aside.
7. Add the oil to a wok or a 12-inch nonstick skillet.
8. Preheat over medium-high heat.
9. Add ginger and stir fry for 15 seconds.
10. Add bok choy and onion; stir fry for 1 minute or till vegetables are crisp tender.
11. Take out the vegetables from the skillet.
12. Add beef to skillet, and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until desired doneness.
13. Push the beef from the center of the pan.
14. Stir sauce, and add it to the center of the pan.
15. Cook and stir till thick and bubbly.
16. Return vegetables to the pan.
17. Stir all ingredients together to coat with the sauce.
18. Cover and cook for 1 minute more.
19. Divide warm pasta among four plates and top with the beef mixture.
20. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[shimmerchk]

This is a great weekday meal. I used thin chinese egg noodles and added 2 cloves of minced garlic. We thought the flavor combination was pretty good but it was too saucy for us since we like a drier noodle dish. I would definitely make this again, but I would half the sauce recipe and let it reduce just a little bit more to concentrate the flavor and then I would add the noodles to the pan just before serving so they can absorb some of the sauce. It was a tad too sweet for us so I believe I will add some oyster sauce and reduce the honey to 1 tablespoon next time. Thank you for posting this recipe, I know we will be enjoying it again soon!

[Roosie]

This is tasty! We used organic udon(Japanese wheat) noodles rather than angel hair which worked well. I like how the base of this is veggies- the noodles play a fairly minor role. The colors are lovely with the brown sauce and beef, green and white bok choy (we used baby bok choy), purple onion, and red bell pepper. We added a bit of garlic as well. The sauce is sweet and tangy- I think I may agree with the other reviewer- it is a bit too sweet. This is a very saucy dish and we did end up with puddles on our plates, but we like saucy and we thought it was just fine. The beef plays a fairly minor role, I thought- I think the dish would be good with the beef omitted or replaced by some firm tofu. Thanks for a tasty dinner.