I was confused the first time I saw Macaroni on a Vietnamese street food cart. I later came to find out that the French introduced them to Macaroni and the Vietnamese created many wonderful dishes with it. A popular one being Nui Xào Bò which translates to macaroni stir-fried beef. For the sake of you guys (and myself), I’ll just call it Vietnamese Macaroni from now on.
One thing you must know before we proceed is that Vietnamese Macaroni is different to the kind you’ll find in Western countries. Rice flour is used in the process of making it, therefore, the texture is chewier rather than al dente. If you can’t find any Vietnamese Macaroni at your local Asian grocer substitute for regular macaroni just be aware that it will be slightly different and will need even less cooking time.
Vietnamese Macaroni is packed with tons of flavour bring together flavours both from Vietnam and Italy and mixing them together to make this unique dish!
The tomato paste adds a tanginess whilst sriracha adds some heat and the soy sauce adds some saltiness.
This meal is super quick to whip up and packed full of veggies. Give it a try next time you’re making spaghetti bolognese and let me know what you think!
- 250 g beef, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp spring onion, white part only minced
- 1 tsp chicken stock
- 500 g Vietnamese macaroni
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 capsicum, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tomatoes, quartered
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Marinate beef with pepper, garlic, soy sauce, minced green onion and chicken stock. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
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Cook the macaroni in a pot of boiling water but shorten the cooking time by 5 minutes, otherwise it’ll be too soggy to stir-fry. Drain and drizzle over some oil to prevent sticking then set off to the side.
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In a frying pan heat some olive oil over high heat, add the beef and stir-fry until no longer pink. This shouldn’t take long, a couple of minutes at most. Remove and set aside.
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Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and capsicum - stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, add in the macaroni, tomato paste, sriracha, sugar and a dash of soy sauce. Stir-fry for 3 minutes then add the beef and chopped tomato and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.
Watch the video for Vietnamese Macaroni here:
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