Chinese Style Beef Steak by 3 Hungry Tummies

It's the 100th post on Eat Noodles Love Noodles and rather than post one of my half-arsed reviews of a London restaurant, I've decided to do something special to celebrate. So it is my pleasure to present a guest post by one of my favourite bloggers, Suresh from 3 Hungry Tummies.

Suresh originally hails from Malaysia but he now calls Melbourne (or as I know it, Brunchtown) home. From his little kitchen, he knocks out the most amazing dishes, not just from his homeland but from across Asia and all over, to share on his blog. 

When Mr. Noodles of Eat Noodles Love Noodles asked me to do a guest post for his blog I said yes without any hesitation. It is not just any guest post; it is his 100th post and with such an honour bestowed upon me, I put my mind to work right away for something appropriate for such occasion. A noodle post might be an easy option but I decided against it and instead chosen a dish that might represent who he is - a British-born Chinese, whose parents emigrated from Hong Kong, who is also very passionate and proud of his heritage.

What I have chosen is this Cantonese classic created by talented Hong Kong cooks using both Chinese and English ingredients. It looks unmistakably Chinese that is until you have your first taste of the sauce that has all the English condiments in it, more importantly the Chineseness of the dish has not been compromised with the added foreign sauces. For Mr Noodles' friends who are still not convinced by the beauty of Chinese food, this might be a good dish to show them how versatile and diverse the cuisine can be. I am looking forward to the day we meet; there will be beers, wine and zha jiang mian.... oops! I mean dan dan mian! Last but not least, congratulations on your 100th post and am looking forward to the 200th and 300th...

serves 4 as part of a Chinese meal

you'll need;

500 g of beef fillet - sliced across the grains to roughly 8 mm slices*

1 tbs of light soy

1 tsp of white pepper

1 tbs of corn flour

2 tbs of peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 brown onion, sliced

1 bunch of bokchoy or Asian greens of your choice, halved lengthwise and blanched just before serving

1 spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths and julienne

* Place beef in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up to make slicing easier.

for the sauce;

6 tbs of tomato ketchup

3 tbs of HP sauce

1 tbs of worcestershire sauce

1 tbs of oyster sauce

dash of sesame oil

2 tbs of sugar

1/2 cup of stock

dash of white pepper

corn flour solution

Mix everything for the sauce in a bowl (except the corn flour solution) and set aside.

Slice beef across the grains and lightly pounded with a kitchen mallet.

Marinate beef with soy, white pepper, corn flour and peanut oil.

Pan fry beef in a hot pan without using any oil (a non stick pan is best) for 15 seconds on each side and set aside.

Saute garlic and onion for a minute then add in the sauce mixture and cook for a minute. Check for seasonings and thicken with a little corn flour solution.

Return beef to the wok and lower the heat. Coat beef pieces with the sauce and warm through, take care not to cook the beef any further.

Blanch Asian greens very briefly and drain well.

Serve beef with blanched greens and top with some julienne spring onions. I hope Mr Noodles will be making this for his Chinese food sceptic friends sometime soon.

Thanks once again to 3 Hungry Tummies for this recipe, which brings back a few childhood memories. Unbeknown to Suresh, my Dad cooked a very similar dish when I was growing up but with pork fillet instead of beef.