asian food is very healthy, and the proof is the asian population, which impresses with its extremely low number of obese people, compared with europe or the united states.
the secret lies in asian food preparation techniques, mostly based on steam cooking, boiling (reduced time) and roasting in their traditional style "stir fry". what is "stir fry"? asian cuisine is a method of roasting at high temperatures, with tiny amounts of oil flavored with ginger and garlic, in a few time.
chinese food is very aromatic, with exotic notes of ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce, which gives a special flavor to food.
today we make a delicious stir fry beef with vegetables and cashew nuts, soy and oyster sauce. finally, the oyster sauce will delicately wrap the crispy bits of vegetables and the meat sauce provides extra flavor.
you will see how easy it is to cook chinese and how aromatic these stir fry's are. as gasket we prepare steamed rice or chinese noodles with soybeans (vermicelli).
ingredients:
-1 package of 600 grams of beef cut small and thin sliced (or cut a piece of beef into slices)
-1 carrot
-half a leek
-one cup of diced peppers (different colors)
-200 gr of cashew nuts
-fresh ginger - a walnut quantity
-4-5 cloves of garlic (or as you like)
-1 very spicy pepper
-1 teaspoon of brown sugar
-2-3 tablespoons rice wine (or dry white wine)
-2 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 tablespoon oyster sauce
-2 tablespoons sesame oil
-chinese green onion
-salt
-3 tablespoons of starch
first, make the marinade to complete the meat's taste.
mix soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, brown sugar and a pinch of salt.
dissolve a teaspoon of starch in 2 teaspoons of water and add the mixture in the marinade.
add the beef washed well and drained of water.
leave to marinate for an hour at room temperature.
meanwhile, cut the vegetables strips or diced.
place the rice noodles in boiling water and leave for 15-30 seconds, then drain.
fry the cashew nuts.
when browned, remove them from the wok and leave them in a hot dish. add a tablespoon of sesame oil in wok (deep pan with thick bottom, which allows uniform distribution of heat). when it is hot, add slices of ginger and garlic, let them sizzle a bit, to better flavor the oil.
then add the meat and marinade. add some slices of pepper (if using a thai pepper, half is sufficient).
put everything on maximum heat. stir often.
when slices of meat are hardened, but not made yet, add sliced leeks and carrot. mix well and let it fry for about one minute.
then add diced green pepper.
after boiling, add the roasted cashew nuts, stir well. the vegetables should not be soft, to remain slightly crisp "al dente".
finally, add the oyster sauce and the chinese chopped green onion.
add the remaining starch, turn off heat and stir well. sauce will thicken.
serve immediately over rice noodles or near a bowl of boiled or fried rice.
in chinese restaurants the stir-fry is served on a hot metal (heated by candles) to keep the food hot.
each participant of the meal is served from the main plateau, so food is considered to be shared. this is a very common and respected concept in asia.
chinese food is served with bamboo chopsticks.
before serving, you can add more slices of fresh chili and chopped chinese onion (green garlic taste)
enjoy your meal!