Szechuan Pepper Beef Noodles

This was the first time I have tried my hand at any sort of Asian cooking. It turned out really good, although there are a few changes I think we'll make for next time as well as a few ways we could try this for something different!

First, there were WAY too many noodles. The original recipe called fro 1 lb dried noodles with 1 lb of ground beef. I'm pretty sure my beef was at least 1.5 lbs. We buy our beef by the cow and it's packaged by a local butcher, I don't actually remember how big I told them to make the packages. I could barely find the meat in all of the noodles.

Second, I think this would be GREAT with stew meat, chicken, or any other type of meat... even a combo of meat! I think next time we make this I'll cut back the noodles and put some other types of meat in it as well :)

Last, I could NOT find the ground szechuan pepper. I ended up buying a mix that had szechuan pepper in it. Of course when I went to make the recipe I noticed a website listed at the top where I could buy some, Penzeys.com.

Salt
1/3 lb dried chinese noodles or thin spaghetti
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, minced
1 small red chili pepper, minced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 - 1 inch piece ginger, minced
2 tsp ground szechuan pepper
1 tsp chinese five-spice powder
1/4-1/3 cup tamari
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
Chili oil or sriracha

• Bring a salted pot of water to a boil, add noodles, and cook until al dente. Drain.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until smoking.
• Crumbled the ground beef into the hot oil.
• Add the onion, chile, garlic, ginger, szechuan pepper, and five-spice powder to the beef.
• Stir-fry until the onion is slightly softened (about 2 minutes).
• Add the noddles to the beef mixture.
• Stir in tamari.
• Remove from heat and toss with the lettuce and scallions.
• Serve with the chili oil or sriracha.