Beef and tausi stir – fry

I cooked this dish very early today. Believe it or not, I was preparing lunch as early as 8.00 a.m. According to the new kitchen project schedule, the door that connects the main part of the house with the new kitchen wing will be sealed off today and an existing window will be converted into a doorless opening. I wanted to get the cooking done before all that happened. Actually, I started preparing this dish last night. That long, huh, for a stir-fried dish? Well, most Chinese cookbooks will tell you that the cut of beef used for making stir-fried dishes are the loins and the rounds–tenderloin, sirloin, top round, bottom round. We rarely buy those cuts because they are very expensive. What I do is buy slabs of beef brisket (brisket is much cheaper). Then, I pressure-cook a slab until tender. After it has cooled, it is easy to cut the meat into the thin slices required for making stir-fries. So, I cooked the beef the last night, allowed it to cool overnight, then I cut and stir-fried the beef with the tausi and vegetables this morning.

Ingredients :

350 g. of beef brisket
1 whole garlic
1 whole onion
7-8 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
a bunch of leeks
1 medium-sized carrot
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tbsp. of tausi (drained, rinsed and drained)
2 tbsps. of cooking oil
2-3 tbsps. of light soy sauce
1 tsp. of sugar
salt and pepper
1 tsp. of tapioca starch

Cooking procedure :

Cut the leeks vertically to expose the center. Place under the tap to remove any traces of soil. Cut the stalks, separating the white and light green portions from the dark green leaves.

Wash the slab of beef and place in a large sauce pan or casserole. Cover with water. Add the whole garlic, whole onion, peppercorns, dark green leaves of the leeks, bay leaf and about a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, removing any scum that rises to the surface. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours or until the beef is fork tender. Allow the beef to cool. For best results, remove the beef from the broth, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Cut the beef as thinly as you can without breaking the meat. Re-wrap in cling film and return to the fridge until it needs to go into the skillet or wok.

Peel the carrot and julienne. Cut the white and light green portions of the leeks into 1/4″ rings.

Mix together the tapioca starch, about 1/2 tsp. of pepper and sugar.

Heat the skillet or wok. When hot, pour in the cooking oil. Saute the garlic, sliced onion and tausi until fragrant. Add the julienned carrot and leeks. Stir-fry (don’t turn down the heat) for about 30 seconds. Take the beef slices from the fridge, unwrap and add to the wok or skillet. Season with soy sauce. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the beef slices are heated through. Pour in the starch mixture. Stir until the sauce is thick and clear.

Serve hot.