Showing posts with label rou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rou. Show all posts
Friday, March 7, 2014
Lu sun Niu Rou Si Asparagus with Beef Slivers
While asparagus is a very recently introduced and not yet a common vegetable on the tables of China, the country is the world’s largest producer of the white variety, and I have no doubt that with the increasing affluence of the Chinese, such delicious western produce as asparagus will be sampled and eventually incorporated into the cuisine. Its taste, color (especially the green) and particular crisp texture is precisely the sort of qualities that will endear it to their national palate. The preparation, however, is very traditional, and utilizes a reduction sauce. This method is common in China but is almost never employed in the Chinese American restaurants, whose cooks can’t seem to keep starch thickeners away from their stir fries. In this dish, one can very simply substitute pork, chicken, or even lamb, with similar results.
8 oz lean beef (tri-tip, or top round works well)10 oz green asparagus, fibrous ends trimmed
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 scallions, slivered diagonally, green and white portions separated
Meat marinade:
1 Tab black soy
1 Tab light soy
1 Tab rice wine
1 heap Tab cornstarch
Sauce:
2 Tab stock
1 Tab rice wine
1 Tab light soy sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Slice beef across the grain, then sliver into matchsticks approximately 1-1/2 to 2 inches long. Mix with marinade, and allow to stand for 30 minutes or longer.
Slice asparagus at an extreme diagonal, very thin, approximately1/8” thick or less (If it is sliced too thick, other ingredients will overcook by the time the asparagus is done).
Heat wok to smoking hot and swirl in 3 Tab of peanut oil. When very hot, add beef slivers and break apart; toss, allowing meat to rest occasionally so that it will brown nicely. After only 1 or 2 minutes, remove beef to a plate. Add more oil if necessary, and when wok is hot add garlic, white portion of onion, then asparagus. Stir fry 1 or 2 minutes, until edges of the vegetable begin to brown. Stir sauce ingredients and add to wok; toss on high heat until most of the liquid has evaporated and clings to the ingredients. Plate and garnish with sesame oil and slivered carrot.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Chen Pi Niu Rou Tangerine Flavored Beef
While you will see this recipe translated into English as both “Tangerine Flavored beef” and “Orange Flavored Beef,” the Chinese tradition sees less of a distinction between the two. Tangerine, a type of small orange, is an English word deriving from Tangiers, the port from which these fruits were first shipped to Europe. On the other hand, orange citrus was known to China from earliest times and their remnants found in Han tombs. Today, anyone visiting Western China will notice small curls of orange peel drying on strings and in window sills in nearly every household. Even though small oranges have been savored in the Mainland for centuries, only a handful of cooked dishes feature them, Chen Pi Niu Rou being the best known. It is delicious on several levels, especially the balance of sweet opposed to the bitterness of the peel, the eating of which may be an acquired taste for Westerners.
If you have not air-dried orange or tangerine peel yourself in preparation for this dish, you can purchase the ingredient at a Chinese grocery, although it is not recommended. (To dry your own, just as most Chinese do, peel fresh tangerines or small, thin-skinned organges and dry the skins for several days in a drafty area or in an oven for about 1-1/2 hours at 110 degrees).
12 oz beef tri tip, sliced 1/8” x 2 “ by 1” or so
Dried tangerine peel from 2 small tangerines (appx. 20 pcs, 1/2” x 1” or so)
Marinade for beef slices:
2 thick slices of ginger, crushed with the flat side of cleaver
1 Tab light soy sauce
1 Tab Shaoxing wine or sherry
2 tsp cornstarch
Stir fry ingredients:
6 scallions, cut diagonally into sections, approx 1” long
separate white and green portions
6 lg dried chilis, sliced diagonal into 3/4 – 1” sections
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 - 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn, roasted and ground
1 Tab rice wine
Sauce:
2 Tab soy
4 Tab stock
2 Tab tangerine soaking water
1-1/2 Tab sugar
Soak dried orange peel in enough hot water to cover and allow to soften for an hour or more.
Add crushed ginger to the other marinade ingredients and allow to infuse while the beef is sliced as described. Mix beef slices with marinade, discarding ginger.
Heat wok until smoking, add 3 or 4 Tab of oil, and add beef slices. Brown the meat for 3 minutes or so, then remove. Add a little more oil, if necessary, and when oil begins to smoke, add white portion of the scallion, stir fry a little, then add chilis, tangerine peel, garlic and Sichuan peppercorn. When chilis are browned, deglaze with wine. On high heat add back the beef slices and green onion; add the sauce mixture after mixing it thoroughly, and toss everything until liquid is reduced enough to glaze the meat. Toss, plate and garnish with cilantro or slivered scallion.
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