Cilantro and Beef Stir-Fry 香菜炒牛肉

Do you know that due to the genetic variation, certain population do not enjoy cilantro as most of the people do. It's like cilantro will actually taste similar to soap, which will make whichever dish using cilantro become weird and unpleasant. 

That I probably can't help at all. However, there's this one other herbal plant that can be used as a substitute for this recipe. I'm talking about dill, a very thin leafy plant that looks similar to the leafy part of a fennel. Taste-wise dill is quite aromatic and a bit grassy, making it a good candidate in this beef stir-fry recipe.

Cilantro and beef stir-fry 香菜炒牛肉 - 

Ingredients?

• 400 grams beef slices (tender part better)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves
• 1 red chili
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 bundle cilantro

Marinade:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
• 1/2 teaspoon potato starch
• 1/2 egg white
• 2 sprinkles white pepper powder

How?

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem and chop the red chili, use two red chilies if you can handle the heat. Destem and roughly chop the cilantro.

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "marinade" section. As for the 1/2 egg white, I mean the egg white from one single egg, and use just half of that. Add in the beef and massage in the marinade. Let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Have a wok ready and drizzle a bit more oil than usual for stir-fry dishes. I used 3 tablespoons. Switch to medium heat, or high heat if you are sure that you can cook these ingredients in a speedy way with precise timing.

Add in chopped garlic and red chili. Cook till aromatic but not burning the garlic bits.

Add in the beef along with its marinade. However, the marinade should be fully absorbed by the meat by this time. Give the beef a quick stir-fry and cook till about 70% cooked-through.

Add in 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and give the whole thing a quick mix. Toss in chopped cilantro. Give it a quick mix, it'll take less than 30 seconds here, plate and serve right away.

By the way, this recipe is more of a regular family style beef stir-fry, so we simply cook the beef along with other ingredients at the same time. However, if you have any similar dishes at the restaurant, they might use more oil and quickly stir-fry the beef first. Then they'll scoop out the beef, sear some aromatics, lastly add the beef back again.

I skipped that pre-cooking and re-adding process, especially I think that the final flavor is still pretty darn good. So why not save some troubles and make the housewife's life a little bit easier?

Extended reading:

• Pickled chilies and beef stir-fry 剁椒牛肉

Taiwan's Version of Shrimp Cocktail - Seafood With Five Flavor Sauce

If you like shrimp cocktail then most likely you'll also fall for Taiwan's boiled seafood served with five flavor sauce.

Boiled shrimps and cuttlefish with five flavor sauce - 

Ingredients?

• 24 to 30 shrimps
• 1 medium cuttlefish
• 1 small chunk ginger

Sauce:

• 8 teaspoons ketchup
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce paste
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon grated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 red chili (optional)

How?

Let's start out with prepping the seafood. I used shrimps and cuttlefish here, so for the shrimps peel and devein them. As for the cuttlefish, it might be easier to just ask the seller to prep it for you. Otherwise, usually you'll have to remove the tentacles from the body. Remove the inner cuttlebone, organs, ink sac, beak, and even the outer layer skin for better yet tender texture in the end.

Slice the tentacles to shorter sections. Score the cuttlefish meaty part in a crosshatch pattern if preferred then slice the cuttlefish into medium bite size pieces.

Prepare a pot of water and toss in one small chunk of ginger. Bring to a boil then add in the cuttlefish first. Just a moment later add in the shrimps. The point is to boil the seafood of your choice till they just got cooked through. Drain and maybe transfer to a bowl filled with icy cold water and ice cubes to quickly lower the temperature, but that's totally up to you.

I simply transfer drained seafood to serving plate and set aside. Or you can move the plate of cooked seafood to the fridge while making the sauce in the meantime. That'll help cool-down the seafood faster too.

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "sauce" section. If adding red chilies, destem and remove the seeds, then give the chili a fine chop before adding to the bunch. Taste and adjust if needed. The sauce should be tangy and a bit sweet, also a tiny kick from the grated ginger and grated garlic. 

Serve the sauce with boiled seafood. Ideally chilled seafood, just like how you would enjoy a classic shrimp cocktail, but Taiwanese version.

After tasting the five flavor sauce, one should be able to detect some similarities shared with western's shrimp cocktail sauce. Especially both sauces use the same base ingredient ketchup. I would say that western shrimp cocktail sauce is slightly on the milder side. Taiwan's five flavor sauce got a bit more kick due to the garlic and ginger.

Seafood-wise, I used shrimps and cuttlefish here. However, you can simply use any meaty seafood of your liking, mussels and little octopus would be two good options.

Extended reading:

• Cilantro garlic chili sauce 香菜大蒜辣椒
• Crunchy shallot and garlic chili oil