Happy Chinese New Year! It's the biggest festival of the year this week in Hong Kong and everywhere is decorated and filled with people celebrating. Red is the colour of choice everywhere. Buildings are decorated with lights and cartoon-ish animals as well.
I'm not celebrating this week, though. I had two small procedures on Saturday to remove a mole from my face and a large lesion from my foot. I'm immobilised on the couch for at least a week. So it's probably a good thing that we have a week's holidays from work. The stitches on my cheek are making it hard for me to eat (and smile!, as you can see below). So it's mostly soup at the moment.
But you should definitely celebrate Chinese New Year this week. How about a nice beef stir fry? With black bean sauce. It's so simple to make and even easier to enjoy. And it's auspiciously red as well.
Beef Stir Fry with Black Bean Sauce
serves 3
adapted from Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong
for the beef:
500 g beef fillet
1/3 c (80 ml) vegetable oil
1/4 c (60 ml) chopped spring onions (scallions), to garnish
for the marinade:
2 T Chinese cooking vinegar or dry sherry
1 t sea salt
1 t sugar
for the sauce:
1 small onion
1/4 c (60 ml) sliced ginger
3 garlic cloves
1 T preserved (salted) black beans
2 T Chinese cooking vinegar or dry sherry
1 T sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 T oyster sauce
1 T cider or malt vinegar
1/2 t sesame oil
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
2 large red chillies, sliced diagonally
Cut the beef into thin 1 cm slices.
Mix the marinade ingredients and leave for 30 minutes.
Measure out all the other ingredients because the cooking process happens very quickly.
Heat half the oil in a wok (or a frying pan with high sides) until shimmering.
Add the beef strips (possibly in batches) and stir fry over high heat for a couple of minutes until cooked through.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef from the wok.
Add the rest of the oil to the wok and heat until shimmering.
Add the onion, ginger, garlic, and black beans and stir fry over high heat for 1 minute.
Add the Chinese cooking vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cider vinegar, and sesame oil. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
Finally, add the red pepper and red chillies, and stir fry for 1 minute.
Garnish with the spring onions.
Are you celebrating Chinese New Year?
