葱爆牛肉
Classic Chinese dish, available at a variety of Chinese restaurants. Each experience I've had with this dish at restaurants has been slightly different but excellent nonetheless -- it's savory, flavorful, and tender. A delightful dish served with rice and a vegetable dish.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 30 min
Ingredients
> beef (~300 lb)
> large green onions (~100g)
> red bell pepper (1/2)
> ginger (20g)
> garlic (4 cloves)
> soy sauce (3g)
> oyster sauce (5g)
> sugar (5g)
> neutral oil
Marinade:
> oyster sauce (5g)
> soy sauce (3g)
> salt (0.5g)
> dark soy sauce (1g)
> potato starch (5g)
> water (10g)
> neutral oil (10g)
Instructions
1. Slice the beef against the grain into relatively thick (~1/2cm) slices. The exact shape is not so important. Add all the marinade ingredients except the oil, and stir well to combine. Then add the oil and mix for a few more seconds -- this will prevent the beef from sticking together.
2. Slice the large green onions into 2-inch pieces. In a wok with plenty of oil, deep fry the green onions over very high heat. Ideally, you want it to take on a bit of color but not become soft. Remove from the wok and set aside.
3. Add the beef and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, or until mostly cooked through. Don't move the beef around too much in the beginning.
4. Remove excessive oil, then add garlic and ginger (both sliced into thin slices). Stir fry for a minute or so.
5. Add the red bell pepper, sliced into slivers. Add the remianing soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar to taste. Continue to stir-fry for another minute or so.
6. Add the green onions back in, stir fry for a few seconds, and serve.
Notes/Tips:
> Feel free to substitute lamb for beef or other onions (red onions, white onions, leeks, green onions, etc) for the large green onions. The result will be delightful all the same. I also like adding a bit of cumin to this dish, making it sort of a hybrid between 葱爆牛肉 and 孜然牛肉.
> You'll want to add a bit of potato starch to get a slightly silky texture, but not too much. You're not looking for something like 京酱肉丝.
> Try to use LARGE green onions when at all possible. Smaller ones will become limp and soft before they fry and take on color (like what happened in the picture above) and not give as pleasant of a resulting texture.