Stir Fried Meat with Vegetable - a very basic Chinese style

for 3-4 people

Part 1 - the marinade:
300 g (0.7 lb) meat (beef, pork or chicken), thinly sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch pepper powder
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sesame oil

Add soy sauce & pepper directly into the sliced meat in a bowl. Mix well, then add cornstarch. Mix well, then add sesame oil. Mix well again. Marinade for at least 20 mins.

Part 2 - the finishing sauce:
1 tsp-1/2 tbsp cornstarch
Just enough water to dissolve the cornstarch

This is a very typical Cantonese Chinese way to finish a stir fried dish (pronounced as "mai xian" in Mandarin Chinese). It thickens the sauce, so the sauce sticks better to the food. Hence the food tastes more flavorful.

Part 3 - cooking:
1-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
1-2 tbsp cooking oil
4-6 tbsp water

Preheat a frying pan or a wok with oil. Then add garlic. Stir to keep garlic from burning. When the aroma of garlic starts coming up, add the marinaded meat and stir. When the meat is seared (the surface of the meat appears cooked), add some water for sauce. When the meat is cooked, add the finishing sauce.

This can be combined with many different vegetables to create different stir fried dishes (for example, the zucchini dish on the prevous post)!

The vegetable should be sliced and cooked separately in the same way as in part 3, with or without garlic, (for example, napa cabbage, Chinese cabbage, Shanghai pak choi) unless it can be cooked in a very short time (for example, snow peas, paprika, sprouts, tofu, oyster mushrooms). This is not to over cook the meat and toughen it. In this case, add the cooked meat sauce into the vegetable while cooking to increase its flavor!

Option: Before adding the meat into the pan, add a red chilli sliced, with or without seeds, for a spicy version!