What amazing flavor this stir-fry has, and without any enhancements such as ginger, garlic, scallions, or fish sauce, sesame oil, or chili paste - common ingredients in stir-fries - here we have just soy sauce, sherry and pepper.
This is why I love stir-frying. You take the freshest of ingredients, with minimal spices and/or condiments and give them a quick toss in a very hot wok, and you have an incredible tasting meal in mere minutes, which is healthy to boot! I don't understand why everyone hasn't jumped on the wok-wagon.
Pure deliciousness.
Wok Wednesdays is an online group of wok devotees (or should I say fanatics) who are currently cooking through Grace Young'sThe Breath of a Wok.
We have been asked not to post the recipes on our blogs. You will find this recipe on page 94. Why don't
you grab the book and join in on the fun (for we've only just begun) and become a Wok Wednesdays
member yourself. Non-bloggers are welcome too. Pay us a visit over on Facebook.
Wow. I can't believe it has been four-plus years that we began cooking through this incredible cookbook. We have had many a fine meal thanks to Grace Young and her recipe contributors.
And what better way to bring this journey to a close, then with the ever classic beef and broccoli.
I am proud to say I have cooked all but three recipes in the book, including the supplemental recipes listed at the back, one of which should not be missed - Chinese Barbecued Pork - it is sooo good.
It's still my intention to post two of the three missed recipes; as for the third (Singapore-Style Stir-Fried Lobster) - I just can't bring myself to plunge a live lobster into boiling water or the alternative (Google it - it's not pretty).
Grace Young, I salute you! Without your books and this
group, Andy & I would probably still be eating over-salted, oily, gloppy food
that is passed on as Chinese food here in the Western hemisphere. Thank you for sharing your most delicious, authentic Chinese recipes with the rest of the world to enjoy; and Matt Lardie, thank you for starting Wok Wednesdays, which has become filled with fun and witty members that can put a smile on one's face even at the most dismal of times.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this journey comes to an end, but fear not, we start anew with Grace's other masterpiece,Breath of a Wok. Here we will learn new techniques: steaming, braising, boiling, poaching, deep-fat frying (this does wonders for the patina), pan-frying, and even smoking! in our wok.
And so we embark on another exciting culinary adventure. I hope you continue following along or better yet, join us!
I have received permission to share with you this week's recipe. Wok on my friends!
Stir-Fried Beef and Broccoli Serves 2 to 3 as a main dish with rice.
12 ounces lean flank steak
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon Shao-Hsing rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
12 ounces broccoli florets and stems, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fermented black beans, rinsed and mashed (I like to add extra beans left whole as well)
3/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1. Cut the beef with the grain into 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices. In a medium bowl combine the beef, ginger, soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of the rice wine, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Stir in the sesame oil. In a small bowl combine the chicken broth, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and the remaining 1 tablespoon rice wine.
2. In a 1 1/2-quart saucepan bring 1 quart water to a boil over high h eat. Add the broccoli and cook, stirring 1 minute or until the broccoli is bright green and the water almost returns to a boil. Drain in a colander, shaking out excess water.
3. Heat a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until a bead of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds of contact. Swirl in 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil, add the garlic and black beans, then, using a metal spatula, stir-fry 10 seconds or until the aromatics are fragrant. Push the garlic mixture to the sides of the wok, carefully add the beef, and spread it evenly in one layer in the wok. Cook undisturbed 1 minute, letting the beef begin to sear. Then stir-fry 1 minute, or until the beef is lightly browned but not cooked through. Transfer the beef to a plate.
4. Swirl the remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil into the wok, add the onions, and stir-fry about 30 seconds or until the onions are just translucent. Add the broccoli and stir-fry 15 seconds or until just combined with the onions. Return the beef with any juices that have accumulated to the wok. Swirl the oyster sauce mixture into the wok and stir-fry about 30 seconds or until the beef is just cooked through. (The sesame seed garnish was my personal touch - add a sprinkle if it suits you.)
Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge | Grace Young
If you want to join us, look us up on:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/wokwednesdays/ (for real time discussions)
Wok Wednesdays Blog: https://wokwednesdays.wordpress.com/ (mainly the recipe schedule) And for all your wokking needs contact: Tane
or Randy at the Wok Shop, located in San Francisco. Tane has been
selling woks for over 45 years! She and Randy will fit you with the
perfect wok for your current situation (gas cooktop, electric,
induction, etc. ) If you cannot visit the Wok Shop
personally, give them a call! They also have a website to order online. I
have personally purchased a few woks and other items from them; they are so very helpful! The Wok Shop 718 Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94108 (415) 989-3797 http://www.wokshop.com/ This is one store you don't want to miss visiting if you have the
opportunity! Here is a peak inside the store, and Tane's heartfelt story of how her wokking career began.
Bowl 6: Dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, water
Bowl 7: Egg, egg yolks
Bowl 8: Scallions
The flank steak is cubed into 1/4-inch dice, then the dices are roughly chopped. The chopping of the diced beef was not working for me (even after sharpening my knife!), so I left them at the quarter-inch size.
Grace mentions that Chef Danny Chan (who taught her this recipe) hand-minces the beef, rather than using ground beef (which crossed my mind), for it will give an inferior texture and taste to the stir-fry; which I wholeheartedly agree.
This just screams comfort food, doesn't it?
The aromatics (onion/garlic) are first stir-fried till fragrant and pushed aside, then the beef and salt is added and allowed to sear for a bit. Then the peas are stirred in, the broth mixture is added and the contents are stir-fried till the beef is no longer pink. Next, you add the dark soy sauce mixture, and cook till it starts to thicken slightly. The beef mixture is then spread out evenly in the wok, then the beaten eggs are poured over the beef, the heat is reduced to low, and the eggs are allowed to cook till barely set, at which time the scallions are added and stir-fried until the eggs are set and everything is combined.
I'm thinking a little minced Thai red pepper, or chili oil added to
the soy sauce mixture would be a delicious addition.. as most of you
know, I like my food spicy. :)
I may have cooked it a bit too long at some point, for it wasn't as saucy as in the picture that Grace posted on the WW Facebook page.
This would be delicious served with pasta as well.
I was struggling with writing this story. Andy asked, having trouble? Yeah, I don't know what to write. I'll tell you what to write, "Shit is good! Just make it!" Ha ha. Maybe I should start thinking in simpler terms.
We have been asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 99, of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
WW wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young
This week we have a two for one. Fried Sweet Rice with Sausages and Mushrooms which was due at the beginning of last month, and this month's recipe of Stir-Fried Ginger Tomato Beef.
We'll start with the latter.
Oh. My. Goodness. The ginger tomato beef is fabulous!
I only wish that I had made plain white rice to go with it. I did not read the narrative at the top of the recipe page beforehand, that reads this stir-fry is saucier than most stir-fries (you can't tell by the picture in the book) - so regular rice would have been a good great idea. There was too much going on in the rice I made. I hadn't planned on serving these dishes together, it just happened that way.
As is the norm with stir-fries, there isn't much work to get a delicious meal on the table. For this dish, the most time consuming part of the recipe was slicing the beef - and that took maybe a minute to do. The beef is combined with soy sauce, sherry, ginger, cornstarch, sugar, salt, pepper, and sesame oil. This marinates while you prep the rest of your ingredients.
The beef is added to a hot wok and left undisturbed for about a minute, to give it a chance to sear; then it is quickly stir-fried and removed from the wok to be added in later. The tomatoes and sugar are added next, breaking the tomatoes into smaller pieces with the spatula. The soy sauce mixture (dark soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil) is added to the wok along with the beef and scallions, and stir-fried till the beef is heated and cooked through.
Bam! Done. Delish.
My sister was here for dinner, and she was going on and on, about how good this was. "Is this in my book? Our book? You know the one." Yes. Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge. Page 80. I'm sure she'll be making this in a day or two. It was that good.
And now on to the Fried Sweet Rice with Sausages and Mushrooms:
As I mentioned above, our group made this stir-fry back in the beginning of November. Including myself. Twice. Epic fail. Twice. Determination set in.
As the saying goes, third time's the charm.
Mise en place.
Bowl 1: Shiitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage, garlic
Bowl 2: Rice
Bowl 3: Scallions
Bowl 4: Soy sauce
Bowl 5: Salt, white pepper
The recipe calls for sweet or sushi rice. In my first two attempts at this recipe, I used premium sweet rice. This type, or at least this brand, is extremely glutinous, as evident in the picture below. It was impossible to get the rice grains to separate. I ended up with a sticky mass of mush. This wasn't very pleasant to eat, but, boy did it taste good. I had to get this recipe right.
The glutinous monster.
I thought my first attempt went awry for I had rushed the cooling process. The secret to perfectly fried rice is using cooked cold rice - preferably made the day before. I did not let my rice cool completely (almost - but not quite) before chilling.
So on my second attempt, I brought my rice to work with me, to make sure it had sufficient time to cool completely before being placed in the refrigerator. Still I had issues with the rice being too sticky.
I finally succeeded - though I am not jumping through hoops as I expected. If I had originally used the sushi rice for this stir-fry, I would have written that this was a great tasting dish.
However, Grace mentions in the book, fried rice made with sweet rice, gives an extra richness and bite that is addictively delicious. Addictively, is an understatement.
I'm going to have to experiment with different brands of sweet rice. I really, really, liked the sweet rice; the flavor is far superior to the sushi rice, which to me, tastes like your everyday white rice.
We are asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 80 (beef recipe) & 260 (rice) of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
These two recipes just so happen to be available online (though do get the book for more of Grace's fabulous recipes.):
Ginger tomato beef can be found here at SFGate and the fried rice over at NPR.
Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!
This week's recipe is a little more time consuming in prep and cook time, than past recipes. This dish took a whole ten minutes to cook! Whereas the others take maybe half that time. Yet, you still won't get take-out that quick, or have it taste as fabulous as this stir-fry tasted.
Mise en place.
Bowl 1: Carrot, celery, dried red pepper
Bowl 2: Flank steak
Bowl 3: Soy Sauce
Bowl 4: Ginger, garlic
Bowl 5: Sesame oil
Bowl 6: Scallions
Bowl 7: Salt, pepper
To prep the meat for this recipe, you cut the flank steak in two-inch-wide strips along the grain. Then cut across the grain into quarter-inch-thick slices. Stack the slices, and give them one more cut.
Normally when we stir-fry beef dishes, the meat is mixed with some soy sauce and rice wine, and a few other ingredients - a marinade of sorts. Here we are using a technique called dry-frying; where the meat is cooked in a small amount of oil, but does not use any other liquids, such as stock or sauce, and is cooked for a longer period of time, which intensifies the flavor.
The carrots lent a sweetness to the slightly salty beef, and the chili peppers gave off the perfect amount of heat (you wouldn't think that three small red chili peppers tossed in whole,
aside from a small snip at one end, would emit as much heat as they
did); the flavor was incredible.
This was one wokalicious stir-fry!
We are asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 70 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!
I became familiar with Ming Tsai, from watching the Food Network station which I watched on a daily basis, until they went rogue on me.
Now a days, it seems they are either traveling from restaurant to restaurant, having showdowns, food wars, or crazy competitions. Not my thing. I prefer to watch and learn from the cooks working their magic in their kitchens, like Ming's show, East Meets West, which unfortunately no longer airs. I cannot remember the last time I tuned into the FN. I used to love that show.
I had Ming's book on my counter for a week or so, several pages bookmarked from long ago. I finally decided on this recipe for it simplicity, and the fact I actually had the hard to find ingredients (fermented black beans anddark soy sauce - not available at your local Safeway) on hand, thanks to being a member of the Wok Wednesdays cooking group, where we are stir-frying our way through Grace Young's book, Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge.
Another plus to making this recipe, I was able to use up the heavy cream I had, being I forgot to add it to this recipe.
This was an easy dinner to throw together - and perfect timing. We have been having beautiful spring-like weather this winter (in a midst of a drought, unfortunately) until this weekend. The temps have dropped considerably - we actually had snow on our local mountain, which is only 3800+ ft. in elevation.
Ming even notes in the book that this is "hearty cold-weather fare".
The recipe calls for hanger or skirt steak. I had flank steak in the
freezer and used that. Flank steak does not have as much fat as skirt
steak. This, I am sure is why my meat had a bit of a "chew" to it. I
wouldn't go as far as to say it was tough, just chewier than I expected
it to be. I also added about a third of a red bell pepper I had sitting
in the fridge.
The preparation of this dish was quite different from past recipes. Before beginning the actual stir-frying, the meat is first blanched quickly (15 seconds) in hot oil, then removed with a metal skimmer and placed on a paper towel-lined plate or bowl - this will ensure removal of any excess oil.
This blanching technique, called jau yau, or "passing through oil" makes the meat quite tender, not to mention that it gives my wok a beautiful sheen - much like when I give it a wok facial.
Though cumin is one of my favorite spices, I did miss the flavor that other stir-fries have from adding a broth mixture or hoisin sauce mixture at the end.
The cauliflower was a nice change from the usual vegetables, and with the beef, carrots, and tomatoes, this made for a satisfying one-dish meal - no additional sides needed.
Well it certainly looked to be enough leftover for Andy's lunch the next day - but we finished it off.
One rule of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 74 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. You can also get the recipe here. However, I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!
Bowl 3: bell pepper, zucchini (I had a lonely zuke hangin' in the fridge that needed using up - tossed that in. The recipe calls for green bell pepper, though Grace herself will sometimes use a mixture of green and red. Me, I always switch out green bells for red - a personal preference.)
Bowl 4: salt
Bowl 5: ketchup, hoisin sauce, rice wine
You start out by searing the meat first. Then remove from the wok and set aside.
Toss the aromatics (onion, ginger, red pepper flakes) till fragrant, add the vegetable(s). Stir-fry for about ten seconds, then return the meat with their juices to the wok, along with the salt and ketchup mixture, and heat till the meat is just cooked through.
Serve, and be delighted!
This dish has amazing flavor.
One rule of the Wok Wednesdays group is we are asked not to post
the recipes here on our blog. If you would like the recipe, you will
find it on page 85 of Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge, which you
can purchase at your local bookstore or find it at your local library. I
highly recommend purchasing the book - you won't be disappointed.
Wok Wednesdays is an online cooking group. If you would like information about joining us, click here, or visit us on Facebook. Would love for you to wok along with us!
To all readers of this post: Purchase this book! You will not be sorry! And if you are hesitating because you do not have the space to keep a wok, see my storage solution at the end of this post.
A delicious stir-fry with a little bit of Indian flair (so says the hubby) from the curry.
My storage solution!
Can be easily hung anywhere without a frame, sitting permanently on your stove top, even under your bed
(dusted before using of course!) No excuse not to grab a wok and join us on this fun adventure.
You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive! I know I prefer to flip through the pages of a book rather than read them electronically; nothing compares to the feel and smell of a printed book.
Make sure to visit
my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.
