Chinese Beef Dish Delicious, Unique
Chinese New Year, which begins on Friday, is a great feasting time, with family and friends getting together to wish each other happiness and prosperity.
While at a Chinese celebration, I tasted savory beef wrapped in lettuce puffs with slivers of cool cucumber and tangy scallions. It was delicious, with a crisp texture, and made a unique presentation. I have created a quick and easy version to serve for this occasion.
The meat should be very crisp on the outside and tender inside. It’s important to make sure your wok or skillet is very hot before adding the meat, one piece at a time. If you add it all at once, you will lower the temperature of the wok and the meat will steam, not brown. Be sure to drain the meat and pat it dry with a paper towel before adding it to the wok, so it cooks up nice and crispy.
Use the same wok for the rice; the pan juices from the meat will flavor the rice. Fried rice is great made with leftover rice.
Chinese Beef in Lettuce Puffs
3/4 pound sirloin steak (skirt or flank steak can be used)
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry (optional)
2 medium garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons honey
1 (1/2-inch) slice fresh ginger, chopped (about 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Garnish:
2 green onions
1/2 medium cucumber
1/2 medium head iceberg lettuce
1/2 cup hoisin sauce (available in the Asian section of most supermarkets)
Vegetable oil spray
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Remove any fat from steak. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Mix soy sauce, sherry, garlic, honey, ginger and sesame oil together in a bowl. Add meat and let marinate 20 minutes, turning several times to make sure all meat is covered.
Meanwhile, prepare garnishes: Wash and remove root end and any damaged leaves from green onions. Cut into 4-inch pieces; slice each piece lengthwise into long slivers. Place in small bowl. Peel and cut cucumber into 4-inch pieces, then cut lengthwise into thin slivers. Place in another small bowl. Separate lettuce leaves, wash and drain. Place in large serving bowl. Spoon hoisin sauce into small serving bowl.
Drain beef, reserving marinade to use in the fried rice. Pat beef dry with paper towel. Spray wok with vegetable oil spray and heat until smoking. Add beef, one piece at a time to keep wok hot. Stir-fry for 4 minutes. Remove from wok and cut into slices about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.
To serve, place green onions, cucumber, lettuce, hoisin sauce and beef on table. Take a lettuce leaf and spoon a little sauce onto it, add a few onion and cucumber slivers and some meat. Roll up and eat like a sandwich.
Yield: 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 504 calories, 42 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrate, 26 grams fat (46 percent fat calories), 2.3 grams fiber, 115 milligrams cholesterol, 5,892 milligrams sodium.
Quick Stir-Fried Rice
1/2 cup long-grain white rice
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
Reserved beef marinade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring a large pot with 2 to 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add rice and boil, uncovered, about 10 minutes. Test a grain; rice should be cooked through, but not soft. Drain into a colander in the sink. Run cold water through rice and stir with a fork.
Add oil to wok and heat to smoking. Add onion and stir-fry 1 minute. Add rice and peas. Toss 3 to 4 minutes. Add marinade. Stirfry another minute. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: 2 servings.
Nutrition information per serving: 260 calories, 6 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fat (18 percent fat calories), 0.8 grams fiber, no cholesterol, 6 milligrams sodium.