Description
My Mom’s Chow Fun is a Hawaiian-Style pork chow fun recipe, a quick & easy stir fry made with loads of aromatic veggies, ground pork, Spam (🌺🤙🏼), & wide-cut rice noodles. It’s all stir fried in a simple, umami-packed sauce, resulting in deeply caramelized, flavorful, craveable noodles.
Ingredients
Scale
- 16 ounces wide rice noodles (fresh or dried, see Recipe Notes)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (or another neutral high smoke point oil), divided
- 6 ounces char siu pork or Spam, diced into 1/4-inch cubes
- 8 ounces ground pork
- 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated (about 1 tablespoon)
- 8 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 cups bean sprouts
- kosher salt & white pepper, to season
for the stir fry sauce:
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
Prep note: Once you begin cooking, chow fun comes together very quickly! I suggest starting by getting all of the chopping, measuring & other prep odds & ends out of the way so cooking is a smooth process: mix the sauce, dice up the pork, slice the onions, chop/grate the garlic & ginger, measure the bean sprouts, etc. Place everything within an arm’s reach from the stovetop.
- Mix the stir fry sauce: Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, & water to a bowl or jar. Whisk or shake to combine. Set aside or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Prep the rice noodles: If using fresh rice noodles, slice into 1×3-inch pieces. If your fresh rice noodles are refrigerated (as they often are here in MN), let the noodles come up to room temperature before using or cover with a damp paper towel & microwave for 1 minute to soften. Set aside. Note: See Recipe Notes (below) for guidance on dried rice noodle prep.
- Cook the pork: Add 1 tablespoon of the avocado oil to a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot & shimmering, add the Spam or char siu pork. Cook 2-3 minutes per side, stirring occasionally, until golden & browned. Add the ground pork to the skillet. Brown 3-4 minutes or until cooked through, using a wooden spoon to break up the ground pork into bite-sized crumbles as it cooks. Transfer the pork to a plate & set aside.
- Cook the vegetables: As needed, add 1 tablespoon of the avocado oil to the same large wok or skillet used to cook the pork. Once hot & shimmering, add the yellow onion. Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened & browned. Add the garlic & ginger & cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add the green onions & bean sprouts & cook, stirring frequently, until slightly softened, 2-3 minutes more.
- Stir fry the chow fun: Working quickly, add the cooked pork, rice noodles, & stir fry sauce to the skillet. Stir to combine, coating all of the components in the sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes more, until the noodles are slightly caramelized. Remove from the heat. Taste & season with kosher salt (or soy sauce) & white pepper as desired.
- Serve immediately, garnished with sliced green onions & sesame seeds as desired. Enjoy!
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Rice noodles:
- Fresh rice noodles: In my opinion, chow fun is best made with fresh rice noodles, which you can easily find at any well-stocked Asian grocery store. I buy fresh rice noodle sheets (like these) & slice into 1×3-inch pieces. Here in MN, fresh rice noodles are often refrigerated which makes them a little fragile to handle. For best results, let the noodles come up to room temperature before using or cover with a damp paper towel & microwave for 1 minute to soften.
- Dried rice noodles: If fresh rice noodles are not easily accessible for you, you can absolutely use dried rice noodles in this chow fun recipe. I suggest Wide Rice Stick Noodles (sometimes labeled XL, like these). Cook 1 minute less than directed by the package, straining & rinsing immediately with cold water.
- Storage & Reheating: Leftover chow fun will keep, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
- 10-Minute Meal Prep: Nearly all of the active prep work for this Hawaiian-style chow fun comes from chopping the veggies & prepping the sauce. Get it all done in advance to get a head start on your chow fun dinner – it’ll take 10 minutes, tops:
- Mix the stir fry sauce according to Step 1 of Recipe Directions. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Slice onions – Thinly slice 1 medium yellow onion & chop 8 green onions into 1-inch pieces. Store in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.