Thursday, March 7, 2013

Chinese Beef with Vegetables


Oh man. I've inadvertently gone a month(!) without a new post. This was not intentional. Every once in awhile, my work life just takes over and I get pretty busy. This is the case right now. In fact, this whole year has been crazy. I love it though. If I wasn't busy, I'd go crazy myself. But, there's probably a little crazy in there already...

Anyways, I come back to the blog world with this easy dinner. I have to admit that the picture doesn't really do it justice. It was one tasty meal and my lighting didn't really like the rice enough to make it drool-worthy. Trust me though, this is some serious good eating.

Every once in awhile I like to whip up a 'Chinese' type meal. I love Chinese food but it can get pretty pricey so I try my hand at some versions at home when the mood strikes. It saves me money and can be just as good as the take out variety. I'm a big fan of beef in Chinese food so I thought I'd run with that thought for my latest Chinese dinner. The wonderful thing about a meal like this is that it's full of everything you need: it has your meat, your vegetables and your starch. Boom. Complete dinner. And it's so versatile that you can throw in whatever veggies you have on hand!

Chinese Beef with Vegetables


Ingredients

 1 lb top sirloin steak

Marinade:
 1 TB cornstarch
 2 TB water

Sauce:
 1/4 c soy sauce
 1/2 c water (or beef stock)
 1 TB hoisin sauce
 1 TB sugar
 1 TB brown sugar
 1/4 tsp ground ginger
 1 1/2 TB cornstarch

Vegetables:
 4-5 c mixed fresh vegetables such as: sliced red pepper, sliced green pepper, onion sliced into wedges, green onion sliced into 1/2" pieces, broccoli florets, carrots, snap peas, etc.
 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions
1. Prepare your vegetables and set aside.
2. Cut steak into thin strips. Pound the strips out with a meat mallet to thin them out even further if you'd like. Combine cornstarch and water in a large bowl then toss with the steak. Set aside to marinate for about 10-15 minutes while you cook the vegetables and get the sauce ready.
3. Whisk sauce ingredients together and set aside.
4. Heat wok or large skillet until hot. Add 1 TB oil and cook vegetables about 3-5 minutes or until crisp tender over high heat. Remove to a bowl and set aside.
5. Reheat wok and add 1 TB oil. When oil is hot, add meat and cook over high heat until almost to desired doneness. Tip: If your wok is small, cook the meat in batches so you don't get a lot of moisture in the pan.
6. Give your sauce a quick mix (cornstarch will have settled at the bottom) and pour into pan with meat. Cook a few minutes until bubbly and thickened.
7. Turn off the heat, return vegetables to wok/pan and stir everything together. Serve over rice.

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