Stirring up a Stir-fry

Many, many years ago, whilst I was quite young, my dad took a year or two of Asian cuisine cooking classes. Each week, he'd come back with at least one new recipe to practice with, and many and varied were the meals he'd cook for us to taste and provide feedback on. Whether the feedback was wanted, I'm not sure. But there were a number of meals which quickly became staples to our dining regime, and when I was older and moved out of home, I sought out my dad for instruction in how to cook a number of these meals for myself, and now for my own family. A perennial favourite, both in my childhood and now, was strips of beef, stir-fried with baby broccoli and water chestnuts. I hope you like it.

Beef and Broccoli with Water Chestnuts in Oyster Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

Marinade

1 tbs tapioca starch

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tbs dry sherry

1 tbs dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

Seasoning sauce

2 tbs oyster sauce

1 tbs dry sherry

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp tapioca starch

500 g beef stir fry strips (or whole topside steak, sliced into 0.5 cm strips)

250 g baby broccoli, cut into 5 cm lengths

10 water chestnuts, sliced (or a can of presliced water chestnuts if you're lazy like me)

2 tsp minced ginger (or 2 cm of julienned ginger root)

2 shallots, cut into 2 cm lengths

salt

2 tbs peanut oil

Boiled rice or boiled or fried noodles to serve

Method

1. Combine ingredients for your marinade, add beef then marinate in the fridge for 1 hour (or overnight)
2. Parboil or steam the broccoli until just tender-crisp. Combine ingredients for your seasoning sauce.
3. Add 1 tbs of oil to a wok over high heat, along with your ginger and shallots. Stir fry for 2 minutes, then add your beef and stir fry for 5 minutes until just browned. 
4. Remove to a bowl, add remaining oil to the wok along with a pinch of salt and the broccoli. Cook for 2 minutes then return the beef mix to the pan along with the water chestnuts and seasoning sauce.
5. Stir until mixed and warmed through then serve on a bowl of rice or noodles.