Revisiting the classic dish, this time I won’t set my kitchen on fire with the Bananas Foster, and instead I’ll make some sort of a parfait.
Ginger Beef
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb Beef flank or sirloin, sliced in thin strips
- 6 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 egg
- 1 carrot, cut into thin strips, like matchsticks (aka julienned)
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp minced ginger (the studio audience loved 1 tbsp, I prefer a bit more ginger).
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (any clear vinegar works)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil See below
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1.5 tsp red pepper flakes (or 1/2 tsp chili oil)
Instructions
- Whisk cornstarch and water together.
- Beat in one egg.
- Toss the beef in the batter to coat it thoroughly. I recommend using paper towel to dry the beef as much as possible.
- Bring the oil to med-high heat. Stay under smoke point.
- Cook 1/4 of the beef at a time, stirring frequently so it doesn't stick to the pan or other pieces.
- Drain all but 2 tbsp of the oil.
- Add the carrot, onion, ginger, garlic, in that order, 30 seconds apart, and stir frequently.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil.
- Add the meat back into the pan, turn off the heat, and toss the meat around so it gets completely coated in the sauce.
Notes
OG recipes use sesame oil, but since it's expensive here, I use a neutral vegetable oil, then add a teaspoon of sesame oil for flavour towards the end of cooking.
Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice, medium or long-grain
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Rinse the rice in large bowl of water, and pick out anything that shouldn't be in there.
- Strain the rice.
- Put the water, rice, and salt in a pot.
- Turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
- Cover, lower the heat, and simmer 18-20 minutes. Add 3-5 minutes for brown rice. Try to not lift the lid, instead give the pot a shake to feel if the contents are sliding around - that means there's still liquid in there and it's not sticking/burning.
- Remove from heat, and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork, then serve.