It’s quite a long time since I did some Chinese wok dish on my blog – nevertheless I do it rather often at home (well: not always using my big wok, but rather a deep pan …). I like to read about dishes from the Far East … The recipes are based on the fact that in the Western hemisphere lots of Far East ingredients have to be found in a trusted food store especially concerning spices & herbs & special sauces. So you get the feeling of being genuine w/o having to harvest your very own soy beans & ferment them & let it mature … or trying to ransack your city’s food stores for any fresh original – Far East imported – special Chinese scallions.
I read about an interesting wok dish recently – interesting because the lack of any of the usual suspects from the spice rack. Indeed there aren’t any spices at all – only some sauces.
At the end of the day well get a hearty mess on plain white rice & it’s a perfect small weeknight dinner. The combination of beef, mushrooms, spring onions, ginger & garlic is basic – I’m sure you may take carrots instead of mushrooms as well (or any other rather solid vegetable).
Well – „pure Chinese beef“: it isn’t a beef-only dish, of course there are vegetables, but it’s the lack of any spices that let me to the title of this post!
So let’s start …
What do we need?
Basically it’s:
- beef
- mushrooms
- spring onions
- fresh ginger
- fresh garlic
… & a mix of soy sauces (light & dark), oyster sauce, sesame oil & ground pepper.
The beef is cut into strips – I started w/ roulades so that the cutting was easy. Add some oyster sauce to the beef & let is rest until the wok session starts.
Afterwards chop the mushrooms – thin slices are fine.
Chop the spring onions & set the green parts aside. Mince the ginger & press the garlic; add to the chopped spring onions (the white parts).
Mix the sauces & set aside some dry white wine/dry sherry for the finishing touches. (You may also use Shaoxing wine if available. I think that dry white wine or dry sherry are a good replacement.)
Then grab your wok & heat some peanut oil until really hot. (Before you start the wok session make sure that everything is cleaned & trimmed & chopped & minced etc. In between the wok session you won’t have any time for it …)
1st batch in the wok is the beef. You’ll need to stir-fry for about a minute or so. Afterwards put the beef in a bowl & set aside.
Dump the spring onions w/ the ginger & the garlic into the wok & stir-fry … If it seems a little too dry add a splash of water. After about 1-2 min add the mushrooms & stir-fry … When mixed add all of the sauce mix. The mushrooms are now swimming in liquid – just stir & bring to a boil.
Let it boil for about 5-10 min until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Then add the beef & stir for 1-2 min. Add the wine/sherry & stir …
Generally spoken: it’s ready for serving now!
There is a lot of liquid – more liquid than usually when doing wok dishes. So you mix some water w/ corn starch (or any other starch) & add the mix – spoonful by spoonful – until it’s the thickness you like.
You may also add some sesame oil at the end: it’s a nice flavor I like very much – but you need not.
So there is now this wonderful hot bowl of pure Chinese beef w/ some mushrooms, some chopped spring onions for an additional kick & plain white rice.
The rice… Either you cook the rice before the wok session or you grab some pre-cooked rice out of your fridge or freezer & let it reheat in the microwave while stir-frying.
Enjoy!
- 350 g beef
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 250 g mushrooms
- 4 spring onions
- a thumb-like piece of fresh ginger (after trimming)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- about 250 ml water
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 4 tbsp dry sherry or dry white wine
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
- 2 tbsp water & 1 tsp corn starch (optional)
- cooked rice … for 2
- a wok or deep pan
- Prepare the cooked rice: either cook it in advance before starting the wok session or make sure that enough cooked rice sits in the microwave to be heated during the wok session.
- Cut the beef in strips; add the oyster sauce & let it marinate for some minutes.
- Mince the ginger, press the garlic & chop the spring onions. Set aside the green part of the spring onions.
- Chop the mushrooms into thin slices.
- Mix the ingredients for the sauce & add water; at the end you shouldn’t have more than 300 ml altogether.
- Prepare the wine resp. sherry.
- Take a wok, add the peanut oil & heat it up.
- When the oil starts jittering add the beef & stir-fry for about a minute.
- Put the beef in a bowl & set aside.
- Add the spring onions, the ginger & the garlic & stir-fry for about a minute.
- Add the mushrooms & stir-fry for another minute.
- Add the sauce, bring it to a boil & stir frequently. Most of the sauce shall vanish during the next 5-10 min when bubbling.
- Add the beef & the sherry resp. wine for the finishing.
- Add sesame oil – optional.
- Mix water & corn starch & add to the wok mess to thicken the liquid (spoonful by spoonful!) – optional
- Ready for serving.
