Beef Chow Fun is not a dish usually cooked at my house, it is something my family and I used to eat whenever we went out to any Chinese restaurant in Peru. It is a dish we ordered after some dim sum to fill us up or feel as though we had eaten an entrée, as we saw the dumplings usually as an appetizer. When it was only us, we always varied what we considered the entrée. However, whenever we had an extended family gathering, especially from my mom’s side, a Beef Chow Fun could never miss. We used to change almost every entrée every time we went out to a restaurant, but these signature noodles were always found at the table. However, when the pandemic started, everything shut down. Restaurants were not open, and people stayed at home; delivery was not available at the beginning of lockdown, and not even indoor sitting is allowed in most places nowadays. Therefore, we had to find our own ways to eat what we loved without leaving the house or going to a Chinese restaurant. That is when we found the recipe for Beef Chow Fun. Because of the pandemic, I have learned how to cook, and it all started with this noodle dish.

My family is characterized as not knowing how to cook; both of my parents work all day, and my sister and I are full time students. We never had time to prepare a dish, or, rather, maybe we had never set our minds to it. Yet, my mom began cooking when COVID-19 hit our country. She started preparing dishes we had eaten weekly when we used to go to a Chinese restaurant, from desserts like Egg Tart (Dan tat) to her now signature dish, Char Siu. I used to help my mom in the kitchen whenever I could, which was almost every time since “cooking time” was set to be on the weekends, so everyone could participate. We had one rule, our cook could not help, just sit, or watch her telenovelas, which was hard for her since she loves running the kitchen. I remember that one day, my mom had the brilliant idea of preparing Chinese food for the first time, since we had only cooked “traditional home” dishes before. Therefore, she chose Beef Chow Fun or, as we call it in Peru, Sahofan de carne. At first I thought it was not a good idea to start with that dish, as I imagined it was hard to cook just because it was served in a restaurant. However, it was not as difficult as I had thought, but it was also not as good as the restaurant’s. Nonetheless, we had fun making it. The kitchen was the only part of the house where we really bonded, setting aside the times we fought when putting an ingredient in the bowl. I remember we usually listened to Latin music, like merengue or salsa, while cooking. This is an example of how my family kept their two cultures together, cooking Chinese food while listening to Latin music. However, we tried to avoid mixing the two cuisines together when we went out. Whenever we went to a Chinese restaurant, called Chifa in Peru, we never ordered Tallarin Saltado since it is a fusion between Peruvian and Chinese dishes. That is why we always chose to order Beef Chow Fun, because my family believes food is a way of preserving our culture and if we become used to eating Peruvian Chinese food, our Chinese side will be lost in the fusion.

The origin of this Cantonese food has not been determined. However, there is a folk tale that narrates how it might have started. Even though it is not scientifically proven, it is believed Beef Chow Fun was created in Guangzhou during World War II. The tale says that a man called Mr. Hui went to Hunan, a province north of Canton, and decided to become a chef. During the war he had to move back to his hometown in Guangzhou and started a new job at a vendor stall. Then, one night, a military commander wanted to have a wet chow fun from Mr. Hui’s stall. However, Mr. Hui had run out of powder sauce, so he could not make that dish. The commander was angry and was about to take his gun and kill someone in the family. So, Mr. Hui figured something out; he cooked the chow fun, but dry stir-fried style, and was able to save his family. That is how his stall became famous for being the first to offer Dry Fried Beef Chow Fun.

In addition, this dish is known for being served in yum cha restaurants and cha chaan teng, which are places serving dim sum from push-able carts and tea restaurants in Hong Kong, known for having diverse and affordable meals, respectively. This demonstrates that Beef Chow Fun is not an expensive dish, and it is available to most people. It is evident as this plate is made from affordable food: the noodles, flank steak, bean sprouts, Bok choy, scallions, shiitake mushrooms, and other ingredients that could be found in any Chinese household’s kitchen. I remember when my mom decided to cook this dish for the first time. We thought we were missing a lot of ingredients and became worried we were not going to find them, since the Chinese grocery store was delivering food only occasionally. However, we found almost everything we needed in our kitchen’s cupboards, ranging from light and dark soy sauce, to dried shiitake mushrooms. The only things missing were some fresh vegetables that we were able to find at the corner store near my house. That was it. As easy as it sounds, all the ingredients were in our hands. A year later, I cooked Beef Chow Fun, and the situation was the same. The only things missing were Bok choy, bean sprouts and rice noodles, simply because we had used the ones stored the week before to make lunch. This proves it is an affordable comfort dish, at least for an Asian or Asian-background family like mine, but that does not stop anyone who wishes to cook it to do so.

Finally, I am very glad I had the opportunity to do this project because I had never cooked a dish alone before. Even though the instructions mentioned that a family member could help in the process, I decided to do it by myself, because I wanted to prove, not only to my family, but also to myself, that I could do it alone. I had been labeled as the person who could not even cook an egg well between the four of us. This is why my family was so afraid to send me to live in another country. With this project, I realized I was able to cook a dish, at least following a recipe. Baby steps are all that matter. It was not the most delicious Beef Chow Fun I have ever tried, but it was not the worst one either. It made me happy and proud of myself to have cooked the dish that started my Chinese food cooking journey without my mom’s help, much unlike the first time, when she had guided me through the kitchen. Choosing this recipe also opened doors for new knowledge about the dish: for example, the folk tale of the food’s origin, or when, out of curiosity, I asked my mom why we ate this Beef Chow Fun when we went to a Chinese restaurant, and she answered that it was to preserve our Chinese side. We live surrounded by Peruvians who behave, think, and eat like Peruvians. We also behave and think like the people from our country. However, what differentiates us is the food we eat, because we try and eat as traditionally Chinese as we can find in Lima. Therefore, I can conclude that this project has personally enriched my life, with factual knowledge and an opportunity to practice my cooking skills.