China In A Day

Well, our journey continues tonight, and we've arrived in China. I decided to make a dish called Beef with Mandarin, and then pair it with some Chinese vegetables and hearty brown rice. It made for a simple weeknight meal that was totally satisfying. I would have expected a bit more citrus flavor from using the mandarin peels that the recipe called for, but it was a bit mild for my taste. I think I might actually add a bit of orange juice if I make this again, just to bring out the flavor some more. Chinese cooking varies across it's vast landscape. In the South, Cantonese cooking involves steaming and stir-frying natural ingredients and incorporates lots of soy sauce, ginger and scallions. Peking cuisine, from the North, has a harsher climate, which results in hot pots, lots of dumplings, and of course, the famous Peking duck. Meanwhile, Szechwan food is bright with chillies and spices. And, in Shanghai, meats and fishes are braised slowly to create very rich dishes.

So, I gathered my ingredients and prepared my mise en place for tonight's dinner. I grabbed some rib eye steak, soy sauce, dry sherry, fresh ginger, sesame oil, peanut oil, white pepper, dried mandarin peel, caster sugar, corn starch and beef stock.  I prepped the marinade for the beef first, since it needed to sit and "stew" for 15 minutes before I could continue the process.

The mandarin peel is a weird little ingredient, let me just tell you. A very nice lady at the local Asian market helped me find it on the shelf on Monday, and I brought them home. I was having trouble interpreting to the shopkeeper and she spoke both Chinese and English. She came to my rescue! I took them out of the bag and well, they were really hard. The recipe calls for them to be finely chopped? I can't get my knife through it...nor could i get it to chop up in a mini food processor. Wait a minute...I missed something on the front of the bag. "Must boil for 10 minutes before using." Ah...that makes a bit of sense. I took care of that next so that I could have all my ingredients together. Check out the difference between the really hard mandarin peel, and the reconstitued one that was much easier to chop!

My mise en place is now complete!

I heated some peanut oil in a wok and then added the beef with its marinade. Once all the beef was almost cooked through, with a nice bit of color on it, I added the white pepper, chopped mandarin peel, some soy sauce and caster sugar. In another bowl, I combined the cornstarch with a bit of the beef stock, and once it was incorporated, I added the rest of the broth to the bowl. This acted as the thickening agent for the sauce. After the beef and other ingredients had stir-fried briefly, I added the broth mixture to the wok and stirred until the sauce boiled and thickened. You'll know it when this happens so don't take it off the heat too soon, or you'll have a watery mess.

I served this dish over some brown rice, and I was glad that I opted to make the Chinese greens as well. I would have been craving a veggie if I hadn't. As it was, this was a very balanced and hearty meal for a weeknight. It came together rather quickly, and it was quite simple to prepare! I find that when I do make Chinese food at home, it usually comes together quickly, and can be a great quick fix if you keep all the spices and sauces on hand. My pantry is never without soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil or peanut oil...they are staples of Asian cooking...and I do a lot of that! So, next time you crave Chinese take-out, think twice...and give it a whirl for yourself. You'll get a healthier, heartier meal, and I promise you'll be full for longer!