Shaking beef

One of my new year resolutions is to try something new especially in cooking . What's the use of being a "food explorer"? LOL!

I tried SHAKING BEEF. The recipe is from the Periplus Mini Cookbook. This is good for 4 servings.

Ingredients:

750 g piece lean beef fillet
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (if you noticed in the market, there are different kinds of soy sauce. It takes me time to look for it coz what's available in my kitchen is the thick soy sauce)
1 1/2 tsp caster (superfine sugar)
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 spring onions (scallions), white part only finely chopped
60 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp light soy sauce, extra
100 g mignonette or green or lettuce leaves ( I forgot that we just consumed our lettuce, so I just steamed bok choy or Chinese white cabbage instead:))

Procedure:

1. Cut the beef fillet into 2 cm (3/4 inch) cubes and place in a non-metallic bowl. Combine the fish sauce, soysauce, sugar, garlic, spring onion and 1 tsp of the oil in a small bowl or jug with 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper and 1/2 tsp salt. Pour over the meat, toss together so that the meat is well coated, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. (In my case, it's 24 hours)

2. To make the dressing, combine the rice vinegar, lime juice, extra soysauce, 2 tsp of the oil and 2 tsp water in a non-metallic bowl or jug. Wash, trim and dry the lettuce leaves, then toss with the dressing. Arrange the leaves on a serving plate. (as i told you, lettuce is not available in my kitchen, so I just steamed the bok choy and dressed it:))

3. Heat a wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp of the oil ans swirl to coat the side of the wok. When the oil is hot, add half the beef in one layer, allowing it to sit without stirring for 1 minute, so that a brown crust forms on the bottom. Stir-fry the beef quickly, or use the handle to shake the wok vigorously, tossing the beef around in the heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes for medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking ( I like well-done). Remove from the wok and repeat with the remaining oil and beef. Arrange the beef over the lettuce leaves and serve immediately with steamed rice.

It taste like steak, said my hubby. I'm just glad he like it. That's the important thing coz he's the only customer I have...LOL!

entry for

Yummy Sunday- Fried Rice with Seafood

I order "Kaw Pad Talae" Fried rice with seafood in one of the local restaurant in Bangkok and I didn't expect that shrimp would be served in this form...LOL! It's usually served shelled.

I think everybody know how to cook fried rice but Thai fried rice gets much of its unique flavor from the mix of fish sauce, soy sauce, chili peppers and lime. The cilantro and a dusting of pre-ground white pepper gives the flavors a clean, rounded finish.

I wanna share the recipe I learned from Group Recipes:

Ingredients:

* 2 bowls of cooked rice (cold)
* 50 grams of seafood (shrimp & squid)
* 50 grams of pork (finely sliced)
* 100 grams of kay lan or cabbage
* 2 eggs
* 50 grams of onions, finely sliced
* 2 garlic, finely chopped
* 1 chilli ( if you like the heat)
* 1 fresh tomato, cut into small slices
* 1 tbs soy sauce
* 1 tbs oyster sauce
* 1 teaspoon fish sauce
* pinch of sugar
* 2 tbs of oil
* pinch of salt and pepper


Directions:

1. with oil, saute garlic and onion (chilli) until fragrant
2. add pork, keep stirring until pork is cooked and brown
3. add seafood, stir well add tomatoes, kay lan toss well
4. add eggs, scramble,
5. add rice, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and sugar, salt and pepper
6. taste, if it's not salty enough you can add more fish sauce
7. and if you like a richer flavor add more oyster sauce
8. serve hot
9. if you like, you can serve it with a sunny side up

Making great fried rice requires a number of tricks:
- A wok - it is the best tool for fried rice. If you don't, it can be tricky but still manageable.
- High heat - you want your pan as hot as possible. That's why it frequently tastes so much better at a restaurant.
- Dry rice - Making your rice a little drier than normal or using day-old rice keeps the rice from clumping together and turning into wok-concrete.
- Ground black or white pepper and lime - You'll be surprised how much flavor the ground pepper and lime can bring to fried rice.

Happy Sunday and enjoy drooling for foods at Perfectly Blended.