Beef stir fry - Chinese Cuisine

Here are the secrets to a tasty, healthy, tender beef stir-fry: buy good-quality beef, seek out vegies of many colours and have all the ingredients ready to cook before you fire up the wok. This is an easy and very popular Chinese recipe!

Ingredients



400 g beef eye fillet

1½ tbsp potato starch, plus ½ tsp extra

750 ml water

salt

1½ tbsp peanut oil

6 fresh baby corn, halved diagonally

4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

60 g snow peas, trimmed

4 yellow squash, sliced

1–1.25 litres oil, for deep-frying

1 garlic clove, chopped

½ red capsicum, diced

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp rice wine

1 tsp sesame oil

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.



Instructions



Standing time 30 minutes



Trim the beef and slice it thinly across the grain. Make a thin paste with the potato starch, 100 ml of the water, ⅔ teaspoon of salt and the peanut oil. Add the beef, stir well to coat and set aside for 30 minutes.



Heat the remaining water in a wok until boiling. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and the baby corn and cook for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, snow peas and squash and cook for a further 30 seconds. Drain the blanched vegetables in a colander.



Heat the deep-frying oil in the wok until the surface is shimmering. Add the beef and fry until it just changes colour. Strain out the beef and carefully empty the wok of oil, leaving 1 tablespoon.



Reheat the wok over a high flame and add the garlic, capsicum and beef. Stir-fry for 30 seconds then add the blanched vegetables, oyster sauce, sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt and the extra potato starch. Toss well. Finish with the rice wine and sesame oil for aroma and gloss. Serve immediately.