Hot Bean Sauce Cashew Beef (辣豆辦腰果牛肉, Laat6 Dau6 Faan6 Jiu1 Gwo2 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 21 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

 

Everything in this dish, except for the beef, came from a can or bottle. So if you have a can and bottle opener, you can make this quick cooking dish. Bamboo shoots are a staple of Chinese cooking. They can be purchased bottled, canned, preserved, and fresh, and also as strips, as slices, or as whole shoots. For this dish, I used canned bamboo shoot slices, but you can easily buy them fresh at your local Asian market. The cashew nuts give an added crunch and the hot bean sauce gives the dish its spicy flavor.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Beef flank or flap meat (牛肉, ngau4 juk6) sliced thinly against the grain
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
7.4 oz.	210 g	One 15 oz. (425 g.) can abalone mushrooms (baau1 jyu4 gu1, 鮑魚菇), drained, or any available can of mushrooms
12 oz.	340 g.	Fresh or one 19 oz. (539 g.) can bamboo shoot slices (筍, seon2), drained
8 oz.	250 g.	Cashew nuts (腰果, jiu1 gwo2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (goeng1, 薑), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (syun3, 蒜), crushed in a garlic press
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lian How brand hot bean sauce (辣豆辦醬, laat6 dau6 faan6 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
2 tsp.	10 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
4 tsp.	20 ml.	Water

 

Equipment

		Garlic press
14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Preparation Instructions

1. Cut the beef flank or flap meat thinly against the grain and put into a bowl. Cutting the beef against the grain makes it easier to eat (if cut with the grain, the beef would be stringy and difficult to eat). Add the baking soda to the beef, allow to tenderize for 15 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the beef for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the beef overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. Open and drain the abalone mushroom and bamboo shoot slice cans. If using fresh bamboo shoot slices, wash the bamboo shoots. Any canned mushroom can be used in this dish if abalone mushrooms are not available.
4. Put the cashew nuts into a small bowl.
5. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
6. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lian How brand hot bean sauce or equivalent, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. In another small bowl, prepare the corn starch slurry by mixing the corn starch and water together.

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a wok or pan over high heat. While the wok is heating up, add the cashew nuts from the small bowl into the wok. Quickly brown the cashew nuts before putting them back into the small bowl.
2. Reheat the wok over high heat and before adding oil. Add the beef to the wok in a single layer on the bottom and brown the outside. You may have to cook the beef in batches, so be sure to reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil. Set the beef aside in a bowl (not in the bowl with the cashew nuts).
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the abalone mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then remove them to the bowl with the beef.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the bamboo shoots. Stir fry the bamboo shoots and then add the contents of the bowl with the beef back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together.
5. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. If more sauce is desired, add some liquid (stock or water) to the wok. Add the corn starch slurry to thicken the sauce and mix all the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish, top with the cashew nuts, and serve with steamed rice.