Beef With Oyster Sauce
Ever wonder how Chinese restaurants make stir-fried beef turn out so tender? Author Deh-Ta Hsiung writes that the secret is to “use an inexpensive cut of beef, marinate in a special marinade, and finish off with oyster sauce.”
Ingredients:
- 10 – 12 ounces (2ȫ – 350 grams) beef steak, such as topside rump
- 4 – 6 small dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked
- about 1 pint (500 ml, 2 cups) seasoned oil* (see below)
- a few small bits of fresh ginger root
- 1 spring onion, cut into short sections
- 4 ounces (115 grams) mangetout (snow peas), topped and tailed
- 1/2 small carrot, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon soft brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- For the marinade:
- 1/2 teaspoon soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark or light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda or baking powder
- 2 teaspoons thick cornflour (cornstarch) paste – (1 part cornstarch with 1.2 parts cold water)
- 1 tablespoon oil
Preparation:
Cut the beef across the grain into thin slices about the size of a large postage stamp, and marinate in the marinade for several hours – overnight if possible. Squeeze dry the mushrooms and discard any hard stalks.
Heat the oil in a preheated wok until medium hot (300 – 325 degrees F.), blanch the beef for about 40 – 50 seconds, stir to separate the slices, then remove as soon as the color changes. Drain. Pour off the excess oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons
*How to season vegetable oil
Pour about 1 pint (600 ml) vegetable oil into a pre-heated wok or saucepan over a high heat, add 2 – 3 small pieces of ginger root. In a few minutes, the ginger pieces should rise to the surface. Now watch the color of the ginger; when it turns from pale yellow to dark brown, turn off the heat and let the oil cool down a little before removing the ginger pieces. Then store the seasoned oil in a container.
Heat the oil in a preheated wok until medium hot (300 – 325 degrees F.), blanch the beef for about 40 – 50 seconds, stir to separate the slices, then remove as soon as the color changes. Drain. Pour off the excess oil, leaving about 2 tablespoons
*How to season vegetable oil
Pour about 1 pint (600 ml) vegetable oil into a pre-heated wok or saucepan over a high heat, add 2 – 3 small pieces of ginger root. In a few minutes, the ginger pieces should rise to the surface. Now watch the color of the ginger; when it turns from pale yellow to dark brown, turn off the heat and let the oil cool down a little before removing the ginger pieces. Then store the seasoned oil in a container.
Recipe reprinted with permission.
