Eric works long hours. Since he is the primary chef in this partnership, we are always looking for delicious, nutritious, QUICK recipes to make for dinner. While I am able to cook, it is not a favorite activity of mine. I prefer to bake. Eric claims that my scientific background predestines me to favor baking since they both involve precise measurements. Could be. He likens cooking to being creative which he enjoys after a long day of work. Whatever. As long as he is cooking dinner for me, I’m okay with it, even if that means I do all the dishes!
Chinese dishes are typically quick and easy to prepare. A recent Food Network episode of Worst Cooks actually had the newbie cooks making a typical Chinese take-out dish in less time than it took the local Chinese take-out restaurant to make a similar dish and deliver it! And I bet the home made version tasted way better, too!
While we have yet to visit China, Kelly recently got a cookbook of authentic Chinese countryside dishes. We’ve loved the recipes from it that we have tried so far. No more of that salt-laden take-out Chinese for us!
Beef with Snow Peas (adapted from The Cultural Revolution Cookbook by Sasha Gong and Scott D. Seligman)
Ingredients:
Slice & dice ahead of time speed up the cooking process.
- 1/2 pound lean steak
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 pound snow peas
- 1/4 pound of bean sprouts
- 3 julienned carrots
- 2 scallions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 tablespoons of cooking oil
- dash of salt
Cut the steak into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. In a bowl, marinate the meat with the cornstarch, sugar and soy sauce.
The cornstarch, sugar and soy sauce make a nice light sauce for the meat.
Remove the threads from the snow peas and set them aside. Slice the scallion into pieces and crush the garlic.
Heat the wok until it is hot and add the oil. When the oil begins to smoke, stir-fry the garlic for about 10 seconds then add the scallion and fry for another 10 seconds. Add the meat and the julienned carrots and stir-fry for about a minute and a half.
The meat & carrots take the longest so they go in first.
Add the snow peas and the salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the meat has cooked through.
Snow peas!
Add the bean sprouts and cook for another minute.
Add in the bean sprouts.
Remove the stir-fry from the wok and serve over rice.
Dinner’s ready!
Kaiwei! ~Linda
Beef with Snow Peas (adapted from The Cultural Revolution Cookbook by Sasha Gong and Scott D. Seligman)
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound lean steak
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 pound snow peas
- 1/4 pound of bean sprouts
- 3 julienned carrots
- 2 scallions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5 tablespoons of cooking oil
- dash of salt
Cut the steak into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long. In a bowl, marinate the meat with the cornstarch, sugar and soy sauce.
Remove the threads from the snow peas and set them aside. Slice the scallion into pieces and crush the garlic.
Heat the wok until it is hot and add the oil. When the oil begins to smoke, stir-fry the garlic for about 10 seconds then add the scallion and fry for another 10 seconds. Add the meat and the julienned carrots and stir-fry for about a minute and a half.
Add the snow peas and the salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the meat has cooked through.
Add the bean sprouts and cook for another minute. Remove the stir-fry from the wok and serve over rice.