← Nouns Cooking · Chinese

Ingredients

• 300 g flank or skirt steak, sliced thinly across the grain into strips
• 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 4 celery sticks (or Chinese celery), cut into thin slanted slices
• ¼ Onion, sliced
• 2 cloves Garlic, sliced
• 1 Red chilli, sliced (optional)
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tbsp chicken or beef stock (or water)
• ¼ tsp Sugar
• ¼ tsp Black pepper
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• ¼ tsp Salt

Method

1. Mix the beef with the dark soy, wine, ginger and cornflour, then stir in the sesame oil. Leave for 10 min while you prepare the vegetables. Stir the sauce ingredients together in a cup.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Spread the beef out in one layer and sear for 30 seconds, then stir-fry for 1 minute more, until just browned but still a little pink. Tip onto a plate.
3. Add the rest of the oil, then the onion, garlic and chilli, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the celery and salt and toss for 1–2 min, until bright green and just tender but still crunchy.
4. Return the beef, stir the sauce and pour it in. Toss for 30 seconds, until the sauce thickens and coats everything. Serve hot with rice.

Tips

• Slicing across the grain and searing fast in a very hot wok keeps the beef tender; cook it in two batches if your wok is small.
• Chinese celery is thinner and stronger; use the leaves too.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Omnivore's Cookbook The Spruce Eats