Beef and Tomato Chow Mein

This used to be my favorite dish when going out for Chinese food as a teen and into my twenties.  I can't even find it on a menu these days though I always look when searching the "noodles".  When I stumbled across a recipe for it last night, I got all excited and decided I had to make it for dinner tonight.  I loved the woman's story of her special memory of her mother and that recipe.  I didn't even look for others to compare.  I decided I would try this one.  I have NEVER made chow mein at home, so this was a first...

I followed her recipe exactly with no changes except I used jarred minced ginger that I had on hand in the fridge - a good teaspoon full and I used a full green pepper as it was small.  I also only used one frying pan to crisp my noodles as I only used half the noodles.  One bag (1 lb) was way too much.

I put them aside when there was good crispy bits.  This took about 15 minutes for me.  I used peanut oil for my stirfry.

First step was to prepare the beef.  I bought sliced sirloin, labelled as "stirfry" from IGA so there wasn't anything to do except add the other ingredients and mix.  I put it in the fridge for a half hour.  Then I chopped my veggies.  I put the tomatoes in one container with the sugar and ginger.  I put the green pepper, onion & celery in another.

I stir fried the beef when the noodles were done.

When the beef was browned, I put it on a plate and sauteed the veggies, for about 5 minutes.

I added the tomatoes.  When everything came to a boil, I added the cornstarch & water mix and thickened the sauce.

I added back in the beef and noodles and stirred until mixed and totally heated.  A taste told me something was missing.  It was a little bland and the sauce needed something.  So, I added in about a half cup of ketchup and mixed again.  This really improved the flavor all the way around and brought me back to the dish I remember.  I would add the ketchup with the tomatoes next time making this.

The noodles also lost all their crispness when I put them back in the sauce so next time I would have the heat a little higher and add a bit more oil to ensure I got browned crispness on some.  This was a "carb coma" meal too and I immediately wanted a nap after finishing!