FRIED BEEF WITH PEPPER MINT AND CHILI

I travelled to Yunnan Province with my husband William to visit a South African friend who had had an accident and broken his shoulder. To cheer him up we took him for dinner at his favourite restaurant. We had a dish made from Yak meat with intense pepper mint and chili flavours. I enjoyed this dish but thought it could be improved by being less greasy and with lighter, fresher flavouring. I have adapted the dish by using beef instead of Yak and by not deep frying the herbs and spices, so although my inspiration is from Yunnan, the resulting dish is considerably different.

Ingredients

100 gr beef

2 cloves of garlic

1 piece of fresh ginger

2 pieces spring onion

20 gr mint

10 dried red chilies

Salt

Rice wine

Soy sauce

Water

Chicken stock (dried)

Preparation

Slice the meat into thin pieces following the grain of the meat

Chop finely garlic and ginger

Cut spring onions into 1 inch long pieces

Cut red chilies in half

Cooking method

1. Marinade the beef with ¼ tsp salt, ½ tsp rice wine, ½ tsp soy sauce, a little bit of water. Mix everything and leave it for 5 minutes
2. Meanwhile heat the wok with 3 tbsp of oil and with stir fry the beef on a high heat. When slightly brown take out and leave aside.
3. Turn the heat down low. Add garlic, ginger and dried chilies to the wok. Cook gently for a few minutes
4. Add mint and beef, and increase the heat for another few minutes.
5. Turn the heat back to low and season the dish with ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp of chicken stock
6. Put in all the spring onions and serve.

All rights reserved – These recipes are intellectual property of Linda Liang and cannot be reproduced without her consent nor for profit

Our first recipe is ( drum roll) …Steamed Dumplings with Pork and Vegetables

As promised this is our first recipe published on our blog. Check in regularly for all your favourites.

Every Chinese child learns to make dumplings with their grandparents, parents or teachers. It is a fun rainy day activity to do with your kids with the bonus of lovely wholesome food at the end of the activity. We hope you enjoy making our recipes with your kids or friends.

Ingredients

Filling

100g minced (ground) pork ( you can also use chicken, turkey or shrimp)

30g black fungus (or any strongly flavoured mushroom)

20g carrot

30g finely chopped green chives (or any strongly flavoured greens in season)

1 tsp oil, a few drops sesame oil, 1/4 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp chicken stock.

Vegetarian option substitute finely chopped cabbage for meat, leave out oyster sauce and use vegetable stock.

Prepare Dough for Dumplings

200g wheat flour mixed with 50g of water, add a little salt to preserve the dumpling dough if not using straight away. The dough should not be too soft as it needs to be rolled. Put the dough aside for at least 2 hours. Roll out the dough and cut into small circles.

Cooking method

Mix all the dumpling ingredients together in the bowl.

Oil a bamboo steamer.

put some water in a glass to the side of the steamer.

Place a dough circle in the palm of your hand, and then put a tsp of filling on the dough. Dip a finger in the water and wet the edges of the dough. Seal the edges of the dumpling making and crimp into a nice pattern that looks like a seashell. Place the dumplings in the steamer.

Once the steamer is full put it on top of a pot of boiling water for ten minutes.

Serve with small dishes of dark vinegar, soy sauce and chili sauce.

All rights reserved – These recipes are intellectual property of Linda Liang and cannot be reproduced without her consent nor for profit