Guest Post - Chinese Style Beef Steak 中式牛扒

When Mr. Noodles of "eat noodles love noodles" asked me to do a guest post for his blog I said yes without any hesitation. It is not just any guest post; it is his 100th post and with such an honour bestowed upon me, I put my mind to work right away for something appropriate for such occasion. A noodle post might be an easy option but I decided against it and instead chosen a dish that might represent who he is - A British born Chinese whose parents emigrated from Hong Kong, who is also very passionate and proud of his heritage. What I have chosen is this Cantonese classic created by talented Hong Kong cooks using both Chinese and English ingredients. It looks unmistakably Chinese that is until you have your first taste of the sauce that has all the English condiments in it,  more importantly the Chineseness of the dish has not been compromised with the added foreign sauces. For Mr. Noodles' friends who are still not convinced by the beauty of Chinese food, this might be a good dish to show them how versatile and diverse the cuisine can be. Please go to "eat noodles love noodles" and find out more about one man's quest to eat all noodles (among other things) under the sun. I am looking forward to the day we meet; there will be beers, wine and zha jiang mian.... opps! I mean dan dan mian! Last but not least, congratulations on your 100th post and am looking forward to the 200th and 300th...
P.S This is a scheduled post. I will answer all queries and comments ASAP. My Malaysian Monday will be posted on a later date.

serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal

you'll need;

500 g of beef fillet - sliced across the grains to roughly 8 mm slices*

1 tbs of light soy

1 tsp of white pepper

1 tbs of corn flour

2 tbs of peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 brown onion, sliced

1 bunch of bokchoy or Asian greens of your choice, halved lengthwise and blanched just before serving

1 spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths and julienne

* Place beef in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up to make slicing easier. I am not a big fan of meat tenderised using soda powder, if you do use rump and add a tsp of soda powder to the marinade. Pork and chicken can be used with great success.

for the sauce;

6 tbs of tomato ketchup

3 tbs of HP sauce*

1 tbs of worcestershire sauce

1 tbs of oyster sauce

dash of sesame oil

2 tbs of sugar

1/2 cup of stock

dash of white pepper

corn flour solution
* A1 sauce is a good substitute

Mix everything for the sauce in a bowl (except the corn flour solution) and set aside.

Slice beef across the grains and lightly pounded with a kitchen mallet.

Marinate beef with soy, white pepper, corn flour and peanut oil.

Pan fry beef in a hot pan without using any oil (a non stick pan is best) for 15 seconds on each side and set aside. The beef is juicy and tender without having to use any soda powder - my pet hate!

Saute garlic and onion for a minute then add in the sauce mixture and cook for a minute. Check for seasonings and thicken with a little corn flour solution.

Return beef to the wok and lower the heat. Coat beef pieces with the sauce and warm through, take care not to cook the beef any further.

Blanch Asian greens very briefly and drain well.

Serve beef with blanched greens and top with some julienne spring onions. I hope Mr. Noodles will be making this for his Chinese food sceptic friends sometime soon. I found out later Mr. Noodles' father used to make a similar dish using pork fillet when he was growing up.