Made with a classic Chinese stir fry sauce, this is a great recipe to use up whatever leftover greens you have in the fridge! Instead of making this Sauce, you can use my All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce (see Note 1) If using economical beef, consider tenderising it the Chinese way ("velveting", simple, highly effective, see Note 5!)
7 oz / 200 g beef, good quality, thinly sliced (Note 4)
1/2small onion, sliced (yellow, brown or white)
1/2red bell pepper / capsicum, sliced
1small carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly on the diagonal
3baby pak choy / bok choy, quartered lengthwise
2stems scallion / shallots, cut into 1.5"/3cm pieces
To Serve
Steamed white rice
Sesame seeds(optional)
Fresh cilantro / coriander(optional)
Instructions
Combine the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl, mix until smooth.
Mix in remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT the 1/3 cup water.
Place the beef and 2 tbsp of Sauce in a bowl and mix gently. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Add 1/3 cup water into the remaining Sauce. Set aside.
Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
Add the beef and cook until it changes colour from red to light brown but not cooked through.
Add bell pepper and carrots and stir fry for 30 seconds.
Add Sauce and cook for 30 seconds.
Add pak choy and scallions/shallots and cook for a further 1 minute until the Sauce is thickened.
Remove from heat immediately.
Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro, if using.
Notes
1. Shortcut - Instead of making this Sauce for this recipe, you can use 5 tablespoons of my Homemade All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce.(i.e. replace the ingredients marked with * with 5 tbsp of my All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce. Add the same quantity of water specified in this recipe and follow all other directions in this recipe.2. Soy - Please use ordinary all purpose soy sauce for this. I use Kikkoman. Do not use light soy sauce (too salty) or dark soy sauce (too thick).3. Chinese cooking wine is an essential ingredient for real stir fry sauces. The alcohol cooks out. However, if you cannot get it, substitute with chicken broth.4. Beef - As with all stir fries, this cooks very quickly so you need to use a decent cut of beef for it. Rump, flank, sirloin, t-bone and scotch fillet are excellent for this recipe.Slice the beef against the grain. When you look at the beef, you will notice that the fibres are mostly going in one direction. Place the beef in front of you so the fibres are going left to right. Then cut through the fibres i.e. cut perpendicular to the direction of the fibres (see here for illustrative image). Cutting it this way makes the beef more tender!Slow cooking cuts, like chuck, are not suitable unless you tenderise it (see How to tenderise beef the Chinese restaurant way)