Sometimes I get a taste for a stir-fry “Chinese†style and that paired with 
some veggies and some steamed rice usually cures the craving. I happened to have some great looking green and red capsicum (sweet bell peppers) in the fridge so I decided to have this stir-fried beef dish for lunch. The key to a good stir fry is a wickedly hot stove and pan. Use the burner with maximum heat and make sure the pan heats up before you add the oil. If you try to cook too much meat, fish or vegetable at once it will suck up all the heat and start to steam instead of fry. Remember, high heat all the way…
To make, prepare about 1 kilo of reasonably good quality beef by beating thin 
slices of it with one of those sado-masochistic looking wooden cubes with spikes on the side… Cut into small strips. Marinate the beef for at least ½ hour with the following… 2 tablespoons Kikkoman or good soy sauce, a splash of Shaoxing rice wine, ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and some sesame oil. Heat up a wok and cook the beef on high heat in three or four batches and set aside. Prepare the black bean mixture in a separate wok or pan… add to a hot pan 1 and ½ tablespoons of vegetable oil then add some chopped green onion, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic 1 and ½ tablespoons of salted black beans and stir over high heat. Add two thinly sliced peppers (green and red ideally) and cook for another few seconds until just cooked. Add some soy sauce, rice wine and a little chicken stock and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and cook a few more minutes. Add the beef to this mixture and mix. Serve hot. Rice is necessary.
6 Responses
that stir fried beef is making me hungry, together with the salt & pepper squid and white rice. sarap… must make a mad rush to the nearest chinese restaurant!!!
and not to forget the gai lan or kailan as i’m used to calling it.
“good quality beef by beating thin slices of it with one of those sado-masochistic looking wooden cubes with spikes on the side…”
hahaha can I get you a book on culinary terms just kidding
shall I say Mallet
this is the prob with most people I know they are so worried about hot pan and high heat when stir frying
sometimes the meat end up like makunat (is that the right tagalog word for that)
chinese restaurants don’t bother na with beating the beef to a pulp- or what i call “spit steak”, they just sprinkle a bit of baking soda on the beef when marinating… dont overdo it, though, coz it might stink up the meat.
MM, i have an almost exact same recipe but with the addition of fresh flat rice noodles, similar to a singaporean kway teow but with a different seasoning base.
i’m gonna do this one of these days. i’m sure the hubby would like it.
and thanks for the tip on baking soda.