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moonvoiceSo I made my beef + palm sugar stir fry again, and I'm going to try and replicate the recipe (which is improvised) here since ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
onyxrising expressed an interest:
ingredients:
- approx. 200-350g stir fry beef (or beef cut into strips or cubes, whatever)
- quarter cabbage sliced thinly
- two red or green (or red AND green!) capsicums sliced thinly (you yanks know these as 'peppers,' weird)
- bean sprouts (any, I use about three good handfuls, but whatever works)
- three small brown onions (or two large brown onions) sliced thinly
- two tablespoons grated gula malakka or palm sugar
- four tablespoons kecap manis
- a bunch of oyster sauce to taste (I start with three tablespoons and go up, I like really flavoursome stir fries, can't you tell?)
- teaspoon black pepper (or whatever)
- a good dollop of sweet chilli sauce
- soy sauce (I start with about 4 tablespoons, and I didn't need anymore tonight, really though, I just pour until I think 'whoops,' and that seems to be the perfect amount).
- teaspoon peanut oil
- teaspoon fish sauce
- tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 minute noodles (I used five blocks of dried ramen noodles, the cheapie stuff.)
(You can also use mushrooms, gai lan - chinese broccoli, or bok choy. Be careful of starchy root vegetables which taste like fail in this. Oh, and if you have it, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger in this is OH SO JOY. But I didn't have any tonight. Alas. Really, you SHOULD have grated ginger in there).
Remember, with all stir fries, you slice everything *before* you cook. Not during. This took me ten minutes to cook. And that was probably too long.
I think that's everything. I have a feeling I'm forgetting something. But meh, you can add things to taste. I personally thicken up the sauce with water + cornflour, to both help the sauce spread through noodles, and to make it a really thick, Wintery type 'stir fry,' as opposed to a lighter, 'fresher' Summer one.
Okay. Stir fry beef in wok over high heat with peanut oil until seared on all sides. Dump out of wok into plate and leave without eating any, even though you may be so hungry that you want to... I understand.
Put palm sugar and onions into same wok and stir until browning. Be careful of having the heat on *too* high for the palm sugar, or it can burn. Which actually doesn't matter, because it still tastes awesome. It's just a disturbing scent. Lol. 'My food is burning, argh!'
Add capsicum (or peppers, for the weird people). Add all the saucey-type things except for the sesame oil / black pepper. You add that right towards the end. With anything else for flavour. You can turn up the heat now if you haven't already. Stir. Stir. Keep stirring. It gets boring, but it's called a stir fry. You must oblige according to the laws of chef-type physics. Oh, and taste the sauce after a while, you should have something quite sweet and pungent. Remember, the sauce will be quite strong, because you're spreading it through noodly, starchy goodness. Yum. If you're going to have it on your own, ditch the noodles and lower the sauce amounts.
Boil water. If you haven't already done so. In a pot, preferrably, because eventually you're gonna have to cook the ramen. It takes two minutes.
Add noodles to boiling water. Add cabbage and bean sprouts (I like mine softish, and not crunchy. If you want really crunchy, add right at end) and sesame oil and anything else I forgot to wok. Stir. Stir. Still stirring? Good. Keep doing it. Get RSI! Make people feel sorry for your stirring efforts.
Stir noodles too. Do what I do, accidentally flip boiling water onto the stovetop so it makes that hissing sound, drop some capsicum under the burner where you can't get to it, and pretend that you're really cool by stirring both things at the same time (which is why you actually dropped all this stuff in the first place).
When noodles are cooked (not overcooked!) drain them, add noodles and beef back into wok. Stir. Stir the sauce through. I hope you're not cooking on a high heat anymore! Keep stirring. And then stop stirring, turn off the heat, and eat it! Or look at it and point and go 'look, there are lots of ingredients but now it looks almost all like noodles. Where'd the food go!' (Imho, this means you didn't stir very well).
And clean the stovetops in about a week, will you?
Oh, and this serves about 4 hungry people, or 8 - 10 dieting ones. And no vegetarians, because of the meat factor.
I've just realised I've become one of those people who regularly cooks with over 15 ingredients...
onyxrising expressed an interest:ingredients:
- approx. 200-350g stir fry beef (or beef cut into strips or cubes, whatever)
- quarter cabbage sliced thinly
- two red or green (or red AND green!) capsicums sliced thinly (you yanks know these as 'peppers,' weird)
- bean sprouts (any, I use about three good handfuls, but whatever works)
- three small brown onions (or two large brown onions) sliced thinly
- two tablespoons grated gula malakka or palm sugar
- four tablespoons kecap manis
- a bunch of oyster sauce to taste (I start with three tablespoons and go up, I like really flavoursome stir fries, can't you tell?)
- teaspoon black pepper (or whatever)
- a good dollop of sweet chilli sauce
- soy sauce (I start with about 4 tablespoons, and I didn't need anymore tonight, really though, I just pour until I think 'whoops,' and that seems to be the perfect amount).
- teaspoon peanut oil
- teaspoon fish sauce
- tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 minute noodles (I used five blocks of dried ramen noodles, the cheapie stuff.)
(You can also use mushrooms, gai lan - chinese broccoli, or bok choy. Be careful of starchy root vegetables which taste like fail in this. Oh, and if you have it, a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger in this is OH SO JOY. But I didn't have any tonight. Alas. Really, you SHOULD have grated ginger in there).
Remember, with all stir fries, you slice everything *before* you cook. Not during. This took me ten minutes to cook. And that was probably too long.
I think that's everything. I have a feeling I'm forgetting something. But meh, you can add things to taste. I personally thicken up the sauce with water + cornflour, to both help the sauce spread through noodles, and to make it a really thick, Wintery type 'stir fry,' as opposed to a lighter, 'fresher' Summer one.
Okay. Stir fry beef in wok over high heat with peanut oil until seared on all sides. Dump out of wok into plate and leave without eating any, even though you may be so hungry that you want to... I understand.
Put palm sugar and onions into same wok and stir until browning. Be careful of having the heat on *too* high for the palm sugar, or it can burn. Which actually doesn't matter, because it still tastes awesome. It's just a disturbing scent. Lol. 'My food is burning, argh!'
Add capsicum (or peppers, for the weird people). Add all the saucey-type things except for the sesame oil / black pepper. You add that right towards the end. With anything else for flavour. You can turn up the heat now if you haven't already. Stir. Stir. Keep stirring. It gets boring, but it's called a stir fry. You must oblige according to the laws of chef-type physics. Oh, and taste the sauce after a while, you should have something quite sweet and pungent. Remember, the sauce will be quite strong, because you're spreading it through noodly, starchy goodness. Yum. If you're going to have it on your own, ditch the noodles and lower the sauce amounts.
Boil water. If you haven't already done so. In a pot, preferrably, because eventually you're gonna have to cook the ramen. It takes two minutes.
Add noodles to boiling water. Add cabbage and bean sprouts (I like mine softish, and not crunchy. If you want really crunchy, add right at end) and sesame oil and anything else I forgot to wok. Stir. Stir. Still stirring? Good. Keep doing it. Get RSI! Make people feel sorry for your stirring efforts.
Stir noodles too. Do what I do, accidentally flip boiling water onto the stovetop so it makes that hissing sound, drop some capsicum under the burner where you can't get to it, and pretend that you're really cool by stirring both things at the same time (which is why you actually dropped all this stuff in the first place).
When noodles are cooked (not overcooked!) drain them, add noodles and beef back into wok. Stir. Stir the sauce through. I hope you're not cooking on a high heat anymore! Keep stirring. And then stop stirring, turn off the heat, and eat it! Or look at it and point and go 'look, there are lots of ingredients but now it looks almost all like noodles. Where'd the food go!' (Imho, this means you didn't stir very well).
And clean the stovetops in about a week, will you?
Oh, and this serves about 4 hungry people, or 8 - 10 dieting ones. And no vegetarians, because of the meat factor.
I've just realised I've become one of those people who regularly cooks with over 15 ingredients...
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 12:06 pm (UTC)Oh and if you need to have almost always fresh ginger, buy a whole bunch when its cheep, peel and chop it and put it into a sterilized jar with cheep brandy, rum or vodka (or other strong alcoholic liquid). It stays fresh for ages and you get ginger flavored alcohol as well which is really useful in ginger soups, fruit cakes etc.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 12:28 pm (UTC)i should try this sometime. it sounds amazing.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 12:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 01:06 pm (UTC)You can always pre-make sauces, if you can be assed. But if not, garlic, ginger and oyster works perfectly! :D
no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 02:48 pm (UTC)Capsicum vs. Pepper
Date: 2009-07-03 04:42 pm (UTC)Peppers is what they is. The only thing, exactly what type of peppers are you talking about? Capsicum could be the entire species.
Sweet bell peppers? Cayenne peppers? Hungarian? Anaheim? Banana? Bell chilis? Habaneros? Scotch bonnet? Nagas? Piri Piri? Capsicum is sort of insufficient when you walk into the produce section of a southwestern U.S. grocery store. Peppers are their own food group out here :D
Considering the type of recipe, and various cooking resources on teh interwebs, I'm assuming you're talking about the big sweet red or green 'bell pepper' that y'all refer to as 'capsicums'.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 05:37 pm (UTC)Re: Capsicum vs. Pepper
Date: 2009-07-03 08:30 pm (UTC)But really, they're all from the capriscin family.
Everything else here is broadly referred to as 'chilli' which has most of those variations you speak of.
We also have banana chilli, Haberneros, birdseye, etc etc
She Might...
Date: 2009-07-03 10:37 pm (UTC)Share anyway! I always pass it up because it makes me think of rock-hard brown sugar that is a pain to soften up again.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-03 11:35 pm (UTC)Re: Capsicum vs. Pepper
Date: 2009-07-03 11:55 pm (UTC)Re: She Might...
Date: 2009-07-04 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 02:18 pm (UTC)Re: Palm Sugar Blues
Date: 2009-07-04 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 02:16 am (UTC)Your wit and style alone will sell it, lol. This sounds scrumptious too. ^_^ I hope you'll be making more posts like this in the future!