Dish of Beef with Three Vegetables
(click to enlarge)

Beef with Three Vegetables


China
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 main
***
1 hr
Most		 OK, we know mushrooms are genetically closer to beef than to bok choy, but we'll let them pass as a vegetable this time. In any case, this is a very flavorful and easy to make stir fry.

1
-----
2
1
1/4
1
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10
4
1
4
1/4
2
-----
3
1
1/4
1
-----
2
1
#
---
T
T
t
T
---
oz
oz
cl
oz
in

---
T
T
c
t
---
T
T
Beef lean (1)
-- Marinade
Soy Sauce, light
Rice Wine (2)
Sesame Oil, dark  
Cornstarch
---------
Bok Choy (3)
Onion (4)
Garlic
Mushrooms (5)
Ginger
Scallions
-- Sauce
Soy Sauce (6)
Rice Wine (2)
Stock
Sugar (opt) (7)
---------
Oil
Oil (more)
Prep   -   (25 min)
  1. Slice BEEF across the grain into bite size medallions about 1/8 inch thick.
  2. Mix all Marinade items and massage them into the Beef. let marinate at least 20 minutes (three times longer in the fridge).
  3. Tear or cut leaves from BOK CHOY into pieces about 1-1/2 inches on a side. Slice the stems diagonally about 1/2 inch wide and keep separate.
  4. Cut ONION in quarters lengthwise, then crosswise about 1/8 inch thick.
  5. Crush GARLIC and chop small. Slice GINGER very thin and chop very fine. Mix
  6. Slice MUSHROOMS about 1/8 inch thick.
  7. Slice SCALLIONS thin crosswise, white and green.
  8. Mix all Sauce items.
RUN   -   (15 min)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan heat 2T Oil over high heat. Stir in Beef and fry stirring until it has completely lost its raw color and any exuded liquid has evaporated. Take care that the fond adhering to the pan is not burned.
  2. Remove Beef and set aside.
  3. Add 1 T Oil to the pan. Bring up fairly hot and stir in Garlic mix for a few seconds until aromatic.
  4. Stir in Onions and fry stirring until starting to soften.
  5. Stir in Choy Stems. Fry stirring about 2 minutes, then stir in Mushrooms for another 2 minutes.
  6. Stir in Choy Leaves and Scallions. Fry stirring until leaves are wilted.
  7. Stir Sauce Mix over fairly high heat until it comes to a boil. Simmer covered until Choy Stems are just crisp tender.
  8. Stir Beef back in until heated.
  9. Serve hot with plenty of steamed rice.
NOTES:

  1. Beef:

      Weight is for boneless with all excess fat removed. Cooking time is very short, so a reasonably tender cut is appropriate. Shoulder is fine as long as it's clear meat with very little membrane and no gristle.

  2. Rice Wine:

      Us a good drinkable Chinese rice wine, not those horrid salted "cooking" grades. If you don't have Chinese rice wine, use a Dry Sherry. Sake, though also made from rice, is not considered an acceptable substitute. For details see our Chinese Rice Wine page.

  3. Bok Choy:

      For this recipe I prefer the white stemmed bok choy rather than the green stemmed Shanghai bok choy (called "baby bok choy" in the supermarkets). The photo serving was made with the regular large white bok choy. I prefer smaller varieties with more greens, but those are not available in all regions. Other choys can be used, and even Chinese Broccoli. For details see the Asian section of our Cabbage, Mustard, Turnip & Radish Greens page.

  4. Onion:

      This may be an adaption. Many Chinese will not use regular onions which are considered "foreign", a Chinese synonym for "inferior" (they came from India 2000 years ago). They would use all scallions, but they have scallions much larger than ours so it's not that much more effort.

  5. Mushrooms

      I have made this with regular white mushrooms, but today small King Oyster mushrooms are widely available, at least here in Southern California, and they would be preferable, and likely used in China. For details see our Oyster Mushrooms page.

  6. Soy Sauce

      For the sauce, the pattern recipe calls for dark soy sauce. I prefer the taste and color of regular light soy sauce so that's what I use - or you could use a mix of the two. Incidentally, "light" and "lite" are not any more the same thing in soy sauce than they are in beer.

  7. Sugar

      I have given 1/3 the amount of sugar called for in the pattern recipe, as that much would be way too sweet - but I actually leave it out entirely. Asians are very big on sugar, but I consider it a "Great Evil" (as do many nutritionists).
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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