Yesterday, I wanted something Asian for dinner… Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, whatever. I just needed something comforting over rice. Hungry Bear suggested making a stir-fry with flank steak and I reminded her about the asparagus in the fridge. So, she whipped up garlic beef with asparagus and shiitake mushrooms.
The key to any stir-fry with thin slices of beef is not to over cook the meat. Hungry Bear made it perfectly as it remained tender and moist. The stir-fry was really flavorful from the oyster sauce, soy, garlic and shiitakes.
Although I wanted rice, Hungry Bear made me eat it over noodles… something about my birthday and long life. I don’t believe in that type of stuff, but I obliged. Sadly, the fresh Asian egg noodles we had in the fridge weren’t so fresh anymore and had grown a little "hairy." We searched the pantry for a suitable substitute and could only muster up spaghetti noodles. Maybe I should have told you that we wanted to make an East meats West dish!?!
The garlic beef stir-fry was so delicious, it didn’t matter if it was served on spaghetti, egg noodles or rice. But maybe I added a few extra years to my life by eating noodles on my birthday!
Garlic Beef with Asparagus and Shiitakes Recipe
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak or sirloin steak
- 5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine (shaohsing)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch
- 4 1/2 tablespoons of garlic, minced
- 1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
- 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed and sliced
- 4 tablespoons canola oil
- 5 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1-2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce (optional)
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- Trim excess fat and gristle from flank steak and thinly slice against the grain. In a medium bowl, combine 4 tablespoons soy sauce, rice wine, corn starch and 2 1/2 tablespoons of garlic. Add beef and toss to coat with marinade.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over high heat. Add flank steak and stir-fry until just browned, but still medium rare. Remove immediately and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the wok and 2 tablespoons of garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add asparagus and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. Asparagus should still be crisp.
- Mix in oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce and 1 tablespoon soy sauce to mushroom/asparagus mixture. Stir in chicken stock. Add the beef and toss gently in the sauce. Adjust seasonings to taste and additional slurry of corn starch to the sauce if necessary. Serve over jasmine rice or noodles.
Makes 6 servings
[tags]chinese, flank steak, beef, mushrooms, shiitake, asparagus, stir fry[/tags]
Sunday Nite Dinner 
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