A recent discovery is that our local “Big” supermarket sells packs of thin beef steaks. Ok, it may not be a patch on what we can get in England, but for dishes that require quick cooking, it’s tender and surprisingly tasty.
You may recall I recently made the “acquaintance” of Mr Gok Wan and his cooking and his book travelled back with me to Spain. Sudden temperature highs of around 30 degrees mean it’s time for food that is quickly prepared and cooked.
I served this beautifully fragrant beef dish with pak choi (or bok choy), but more of that another day. If you invest a few minutes (or ten) in getting everything ready, the cooking is quick and ready to serve in just a few minutes. I had to make some adaptations, as ever, and Big Man asked if this was “Cocina Ibero-Chino” (Spanish-Chinese Cooking). I am sure that if had used sesame oil and carrot (which were the things I had to substitute) it would have been even more delicious, but as we didn’t have a scrap left over, I think it was a success!
To serve 2
- About 4 tablespoons of cornflour
- Salt and pepper (the recipe calls for white, I used black
- About 300g steak (the recipe calls for sirloin, I think mine is called “flash fry)
- Oil for frying (original recipe says groundnut, I used olive oil)
- 4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 spring onions, chopped
- 1 medium carrot peeled and cut into matchsticks (I used a small courgette)
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil (I used olive oil)
- 1-2 teaspoons rice or cider vinegar
Coat the meat strips in the cornflour and seasoning and fry in a hot wok or frying pan until browned. I did this in batches. Remove and place on kitchen paper.
Wipe the pan and add a little more oil then add the ginger, garlic, spring onions and carrot. Fry on high for a minute or two until the edges of the onions start to brown a little. Add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, a pinch of pepper and about 3 tablespoons of water and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Taste and adjust the flavours to your liking (I added a little more vinegar as I found it quite sweet).
Add the beef into the pan and gently mix into the sauce. Remove from the heat and (optional) garnish with chili flakes.
A beautiful dish, aromatic and quick to prepare.
For another beautiful Chinese Beef dish, check out Mandy’s Shanghai Steak over at The Complete Cookbook.
Chica Andaluza 
My mouth is watering. This has always been one of my favorite meals.
A bit like a healthy version of crispy shredded beef!
Shhh, don’t say the H word.
Never! I made a mistake using it there 😉
Ha ha – you can’t beat olive oil 😉
Well, when you’ve got a couple of hundred litres of the stuff and more to be made next winter, you’re not going to go out and buy more 🙂
Definitely not!
Ooo, you know exactly what I am going to say… SCRUMITY!!! What a fantastic recipe Tanya and thank you so much for thinking of me with the link love, you are a honey.
Have a lovely day.
🙂 Mandy xo
It was your recipe that got me thinking about this one! Have a great day too x
Yummy yum yum!
Thank you 🙂
One word….YUM!
🙂
“Wok ON” girl! 😉
Wokkin’ away here!
One of my favourites in the stirfry range: lovely and appetizing. All our supermarkets in Australia have readycut ‘stirfry beef’ [and other meat] packets , but I normally buy sirloin strip steaks in bulk trays when on sale [often!], cut and freeze in usable packets and save a heap of money . . . I love to throw a packet of rocket or baby spinach into the pan at the last minute for about 30 seconds for both colour and taste . .
Ooh I love the idea of the rocket or spinach, always have that around so next time (and there will definitely be a next time) I’ll add some too!
Sounds delicious, even with your substitutions 🙂
I think the carrot would have looked prettier, with a flash of orange in the bowl, but you make do with what you have!
I love these flavours. I used to cook a lot of Chinese food but it’s something I’ve let slip.
It’s the other way round for me – I rarely cooked Chinese food as I thought it was too complicated but now I’ve realised (as with Indian food) that it can be very tasty withouth a list of ingredients a mile long!
mmmmmmmm looks and sounds delicious!!!
It was! 🙂
Fabulous, Tanya! If it’s all gone, I think you have a winner!
Love that the steak was just called ‘flash-fry’ – could be anything, so long as it’s thin 😉
It’s like the one they use in France for Steak sandwiches, but you’re right, who knows which bit it is!
Mmmm! You are right about wok cookery in the summer, and pretty much anything with fresh ginger is good. I would think the courgette (zucchini) to us Yanks, would be superior to carrots.
Wok cooking is so quick – as long as you’ve got everything prepared…wonderful!
Looks delicious.
Thank you Rosemary!
I’ve been experimenting with Asian flavos but have pretty much stuck with pork and chicken. Many’s Shanghai Beef and your recipe here are my chance to break that cycle.The good thing about your recipe is that I have all of the ingredients, which means I use them regularly. I’m less likely to prepare a dish if I’ve no use for the spices other than that one dish. Our temps are due to start rising soon, too. You’re right, Tanya, this will make a quick, tasty meal when it’s too hot to linger at the stove. I need to find me some beef!
Ooh I can imagine how good your experiments would be – Italo-Chino Cuisine! Was thinking about you last night and wondering if you made the mercy dash mission to save Celi with her passport!
Hungry NOW!!! Mmmm… looks wonderful! (I can *almost* smell it…)
Was it wafting your way?!
Mmmhh, that looks soooooooo tasty. Wish we had those ingredients so I could make some.
I had to hunt down the fresh ginger and the other ingredients I bought from the UK – it was worth it!
On of my fave asian descent dish,
btw,i i’ve try to stir fry beef with gari or japanese pickled young ginger,
it taste preety good too!
Oh yes, I love pickled ginger…thanks for reminding me!
I think the only reason I don’t make much Asian dishes is because of all the chopping and cutting. This recipe looks so amazing I’ll have to find pre-sliced stir-fry beef somewhere.
If you get the thin beef it’s also easy to cut up with scissors 🙂
Ah, we also have big trays of those thin steaks sold in France. They’re not much cop to eat “as is”… the cut of meat isn’t that special. The absolute best way of preparing them is something like as you’ve done here. Chop it up into nice batons and then flash fry it. Love beef with ginger too… has such a gorgeous flavour together!
In France there are so many lovely (and different) cuts of meat!
Though not as many as in England… well, maybe there are, but I have difficulties getting cuts I want and usually have to settle for something else 😦
My lunch for today: this and your Pak choy! Thank you. 🙂 Carina
Ooh, it will be a good lunch then!
I love ur articles. some ur articles make me hungry ^^
good article, hmmm …. surely taste good
wow, it looks so delicious, really I want to try