Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Beef Tendon (湖南豆豉辣椒牛筋, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Gan1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef tendon is usually eaten in a stew with beef outside flank, which can be found in the Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Gan¹ Ngau⁴ Naam⁵) recipe, but beef tendon can be the star of the dish all by itself. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so making this dish is a two-step process. The first step is to soften the beef tendon through slow cooking, and the second step is to stir fry the beef tendon with vegetables. I use a slow cooker in the first step since I can just cook the beef tendon unattended. The beef tendon itself is nearly tasteless, so the other ingredients give the dish its flavor, with the beef tendon supplying the texture to the dish.

Enjoy!

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!

Basil Lemongrass Chili Beef (紫蘇檸檬葉辣椒牛肉, Zi2 Sou1 Ning4 Mung4 Jip6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 04 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I still have a lot of lemongrass left in my refrigerator after my purchase from my local farmer’s market for the Chili Lemongrass Squid (辣椒檸檬葉魷魚, Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Ning⁴ Mung⁴ Jip⁶ Jau⁴ Jyu⁴) dish. Another flavor that goes well with lemongrass is basil, and fresh basil leaves can be purchased at your local supermarket or if you’re fortunate enough, grown in your garden. The heat in this dish comes from dried red chilies, and the amount of dried red chilies to use is a personal preference, so feel free to use more or less. The sauce is based on fish sauce, which adds another flavor to the beef used in this dish. Soy sauce can be substituted, but the dish won’t taste the same.

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Pepper Dough Sliced Noodles (青椒牛肉刀削麵, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6 Dou1 Soek3 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 08 Apr 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

I tried another brand of frozen dough sliced noodles. I had been buying the noodles that were made in Taiwan, but the ones from Korea were on sale at my local Korean market, so I thought I would give them a try. I really couldn’t tell any difference between the two brands, both having the chewy texture associated with dough sliced noodles, so I’ll add the Korean to my list of noodle sources.

The flavor for this dish comes not only from the ingredients used, but from the sauce, which mainly consists of soy sauce. The type and brand of soy sauce greatly influences the final taste of the dish. If you go into your local Asian market, you’ll find shelf after shelf with many brands of soy sauce, each with a unique flavor. The only advice that I can give to pick a particular brand of soy sauce is to try as many as you can before settling on one that you like. Some soy sauces are more expensive than others, and these tend to be special or first pressings (like olive oil). So try one of these “special” soy sauces in a sauce, but don’t use it in large quantities for a marinade. Use a more inexpensive soy sauce for marinades – I buy soy sauce in one gallon (about 4 liters) sized containers for this purpose.

Enjoy!

Beef with Black Bean Hong Kong Noodles (豆豉牛肉炒雲吞麵, Dau6 Si6 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 07 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using Hong Kong noodles, this one using salted black beans. Chicken and Bell Peppers with Hong Kong Noodles (青椒鷄雲吞麵, Ceng¹ Ziu¹ Gai¹ Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) and Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa³ Lei¹ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Wan⁴ Tan¹ Min⁶) are previous recipes using these noodles. Hong Kong noodles are thin egg noodles and the literal translation in Cantonese is wonton noodles. While there aren’t any wontons in this dish, these noodles are typically used together with wonton in a soup broth, hence their name, and that leads to no end of confusion if you use the literal translation. So you’ll find dishes named in English referring to thin egg noodles, Hong Kong style noodles, and even vermicelli (whose use isn’t quite correct). Needless to say, the noodles are just really thin and are really good in a stir fry.

Enjoy!

Curry Tomato Beef Heart Chow Mein (咖哩番茄牛心炒麵, Gaa3 Lei1 Faan1 Ke4 Ngau4 Sam1 Caau2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 02 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s a variation on Tomato Beef Chow Mein (番茄牛肉炒麵, Faan¹ Ke⁴ Ngau⁴ Juk⁶ Caau² Min⁶) recipe using beef hearts instead of the usual beef flank. Also instead of using fresh beef hearts, I used Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu¹ Haau¹ Laat⁶ Ngau⁴ Sam¹). The beef hearts give an added crunch to the dish. The tomatoes came from my garden and this batch didn’t hold up to stir frying very well, so I got tomato skins in the finished dish rather than tomato wedges!

Enjoy!

Grilled Spicy Beef Hearts (燒烤辣牛心, Siu1 Haau1 Laat6 Ngau4 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 30 Jun 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Here’s another dish using beef hearts, this time grilled in a spicy chili sauce. I bought the beef hearts already sliced at my local Asian market and they slice the beef hearts thicker than my neighborhood supermarket. The beef hearts are also always available at the Asian market, unlike the supermarket. I didn’t (and couldn’t) eat all the grilled beef hearts, so the leftovers were used for another dish.

Enjoy!

Grilled Miso Garlic T-Bone Steak

This dish was adapted from a Saveur Magazine website (saveur.com) recipe, Garlic and Red Miso Porterhouse. While I didn’t use red miso paste because I had the brown version in my refrigerator, I used more garlic than I normally use in a marinade. I also added sake to the marinade, which was not in the original recipe. This was a tasty and easy way to grill a steak, and the marinade would work with other meats.

Enjoy!

Beef Heart with Bell Peppers (青椒牛心, Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Sam1)

This recipe was updated on 12 Jul 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Not only was this an opportunity to use the first bell peppers from my garden, it was also the first time I’ve ever used beef hearts in a dish. It was one of those irresistible urges once I saw beef heart slices available for the first time in my local supermarket. Not knowing what they taste like, I used a basic marinade to prepare and then to sauce the dish. Since the heart is a huge muscle, it does not taste like organ meat, but has an understated (in my opinion) beef taste. I liken the texture to chicken gizzards, but with a little more crunch in the mouth. I have to say that I like eating beef hearts and would gladly prepare another dish using it (I’m thinking that a noodle dish is in order).

Enjoy!

Beef Shanghai Noodles (牛肉上海麵, Ngau4 Juk6 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 24 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Shanghai noodles are thicker than the normal chow mein noodles and have a chewy texture. As with all my noodle recipes, I recommend that you slightly burn the noodles as is done in restaurants to give the dish an added flavor. Sliced garlic is another added ingredient that makes this tasty dish.

Enjoy!

Cashew Asparagus Beef (腰果蘆筍牛肉, Jiu1 Gwo2 Lou4 Seon2 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 17 May 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Asparagus is in season again. Asparagus beef in black bean garlic sauce is a classic Cantonese-American dish. Cashews are an extra addition that goes well with this dish. I was feeling a little lazy when I made this dish, so I used bottled black bean garlic sauce to make it. Lee Kum Kee makes a really good bottled sauce in my humble opinion, and I use it whenever I don’t make the black bean sauce myself. I used the Shiitake mushroom rehydration liquid together with a corn starch slurry to increase the amount of sauce.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Corned Beef in Beer with Vegetables

This has become my favorite way to cook corned beef – using a slow cooker (crock pot) – and in beer no less! The carrots are put on the bottom of the slow cooker, then the corned beef is added, beer and water, and finally the cabbage. Do this in the morning and you’ll have a tasty dinner in the evening. The cooking liquid can be made into gravy. Serve with the Stir Fried Garlic Potatoes recipe (recipe can be found here) rather than the traditional boiled potatoes.

Enjoy!

Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Naam5)

 

This recipe was updated on 23 Sep 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef outside flank (also called drop flank) and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. Beef outside flank is a thin cut of meat from the cow with silver skin, which requires long slow cooking to become tender and is available at your local Asian market. The silver skin is an integral part of the stew, so it shouldn’t be removed before cooking! This cut of meat should not be confused with the more common beef flank or flank steak, which is used for stir frying. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so it’s totally about mouth feel. Chee Hou sauce is the other important ingredient. Chee Hou sauce is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted) and has a slightly spicier taste to it.

Starting with this recipe, I’ve changed the format to include metric measurements and a list of the equipment needed to make the dish. Living in the USA all my life, I’ve always used the English measurement system, so from now on I hope the recipes are friendlier to the rest of the world.

Enjoy!

Beef and Bell Peppers with Fermented Bean Curd (腐乳青椒牛肉, Fu6 Jyu5 Ceng1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

 

This recipe was updated on 26 May 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

 

Fermented bean curd is the basis for the sauce for this dish. The bean curd has a distinctive sharp salty flavor that goes well with the sweetness of the bell peppers and the marinated beef. You can use more or less of the fermented bean curd in the dish depending upon your taste.

Enjoy!

Three Pepper Beef (三椒牛肉, Saam1 Ziu1 Ngau4 Juk6)

This recipe was updated on 04 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is a spicy combination of three peppers and beef, with one being whole red chili peppers. These chili peppers were dried from my garden and weren’t that hot. While the homegrown dried chili peppers weren’t that hot, they were still very tasty. If you use store bought dried red chilies, they are hot and the quantity used in this dish would likely make your head explode (unless you’re accustomed to that level of heat), so feel free to reduce the amount used.

Enjoy!

Three Flavor Shanghai Noodles (三鮮上海麵, Saam1 Sin1 Soeng6 Hoi2 Min6)

 

This recipe was updated on 02 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

I’ve always wanted to make this dish after eating at the local Muslim Chinese restaurant, which serves a dish called Three Flavor Dough Sliced Noodles (三鮮刀削麵, Saam¹ Sin¹ Dou¹ Soek³ Min⁶); the three flavors being beef, chicken and shrimp. I’ve adapted the ingredients to use Shanghai noodles and added a few other ingredients not found in the restaurant dish. Making this dish is more involved than your normal Chinese noodle dish since you need not just one flavor, but all three flavors available at once to make the dish, and it’s rare that I have all three available at the same time. While I had all the three ingredients available, I also made the Three Flavor Fried Rice (三鮮炒飯, Saam¹ Sin¹ Caau² Faan⁶) recipe.

Coin-sized Shiitake mushrooms are available at your local Asian supermarket. If you can’t find coin-sized Shiitake mushrooms, use the normal sized (larger than coin-sized) and cut them into ½-inch (15 mm.) wide pieces. Coin-sized Shiitake mushrooms are more for visual effect in the dish and taste no different than their larger counterparts.

There also are a lot of ingredients, both in number and quantity, used to make this dish. I used double the amount of noodles than I usually use to make noodle dishes, so there was always a question of whether or not my wok could hold everything. In my case, it worked, but this may be too much for your wok or pan. I’ve written the recipe to use only one pound (500 g.) of noodles to reflect the smaller amount. Feel free to reduce the quantity of the ingredients – especially the beef, chicken, shrimp, and noodles – to make this dish.

Enjoy!

Three Flavor Fried Rice (三鮮炒飯, Saam1 Sin1 Caau2 Faan6)

 

This recipe was updated on 04 Aug 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

Here’s another three flavor (beef, chicken, shrimp) dish that you can get at my local Muslim Chinese restaurant. In order to make this dish you need all three flavors available at once, which can be a problem since you’re likely to make dishes with only one available. Since I made the Three Flavor Shanghai Noodles (三鮮上海麵, Saam¹ Sin¹ Soeng⁶ Hoi² Min⁶) recipe, I had all three flavors available and decided to go for it.

I use Lee Kum Kee brand Premium Oyster Flavored Sauce because it’s the brand I grew up with and has a good flavor. It’s a little more expensive than other brands, but it’s worth the price in my opinion. I once had a weak moment and bought an inexpensive brand of oyster sauce, and was disappointed in the flavor when compared to the Lee Kum Kee Premium brand. So get the good stuff!

Enjoy!

Beef Curry Hong Kong Noodles (咖哩牛肉炒雲吞麵, Gaa3 Lei1 Ngau4 Juk6 Caau2 Wan4 Tan1 Min6)

 

This recipe was updated on 19 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This dish uses Hong Kong style noodles together with Madras curry powder in a stir fry. Hong Kong noodles are thin egg noodles and the literal translation in Cantonese is wonton noodles. While there aren’t any wontons in this dish, these noodles are typically used together with wonton in a soup broth, hence their name, and that leads to no end of confusion if you use the literal translation. So you’ll find dishes named in English referring to thin egg noodles, Hong Kong style noodles, and even vermicelli (whose use isn’t quite correct). Needless to say, the noodles are just really thin and are really good in a stir fry.

Enjoy!

Grilled Teriyaki Beef Rib Steak with Vegetables

Here’s a simple recipe for grilling and smoking a beef rib steak medium rare. The steak is first marinated using Kikkoman’s Teriyaki Marinade and Sauce together with sake (both ingredients can be found at your local supermarket), together with some crushed garlic. After being marinated, the marinade is discarded and then oil and ground pepper is rubbed into the steak. The beef is grilled first uncovered, producing the grill marks on the presentation side of the steak, and then covering the grill to smoke the steak. Grilled and smoked mushrooms and corn accompany the steak.

Enjoy!

Grilled Mini Roast Beef and Mushrooms

Roast beef has always been my favorite and grilling the roast beef makes it even better. However, outside of special holidays where a large cut of rib eye will feed a family, what do you do when you want to serve a small number of people (like one!). Well here’s method to make roast beef on your grill using a thick rib eye steak. The preparation and even making the pan gravy is the same as when using a larger cut of meat.

The trick is to quickly roast the beef using indirect heat in your grill in a rack over a pan. What matters to the cooking time is the thickness of the beef and not the weight. You want a cut of beef at least 1-inch thick, and a 2-inch thick cut of beef doesn’t take much longer to cook medium-rare. If I were smart, I would use a meat thermometer to always produce medium-rare roasts, but I found that for a 1-inch roast, 12-15 minutes, and for a 2-inch roast, 17-20 minutes of indirect heat in my grill produces the desired results.

Enjoy!