Chinese Beef and Cabbage

ChineseBeefandCabbageThere’s a Chinese restaurant in Seattle I love and miss now that I have moved away.  Everyone I have ever brought there has loved it too.   Now don’t get the wrong idea about this restaurant.  There are no fancy tablecloths.  It is not fine dining and I’m not even sure there is a sign out front.  It is located in a shopping center in the International District and it is the end unit.  There must be a dozen other restaurants in the same center and on a Friday or Saturday night even when it is cold and rainy and even when there is no one in the rest of the restaurants in the center and there are plenty of tables available for the taking, this favorite restaurant of mine will have a line out the door and people are happy to wait.  Amazing.  The food is great.  The ingredients are fresh and the portion sizes are generous and very favorably priced.   Above all it is consistently all of these things.  It doesn’t matter what day of the week you walk in there or how many times you order a dish, it is always the same and always amazing.  And let me tell you, over the six years I lived in Seattle I have been there maybe ten to twelve (dozen) times.  Have I mentioned that its amazing?

Why do I mention my favorite Chinese restaurant to you?  A work buddy of mine recently told me that he had purchased a wok and all the accessories while in San Francisco and he has very happily been using it.  I let him know I would try to get a couple of “wok friendly” recipes over to him.  Enter my favorite Chinese restaurant….  There’s a dish on the menu they call Hunan Beef if my memory hasn’t failed me.  As you can imagine, it is amazing.  So good in fact, I decided it was amazing enough (and simple enough) to try and recreate at home.  I’ll admit, this Chinese Beef and Cabbage isn’t an exact replica but it is pretty darn good if I may say so myself.  It has a short list of ingredients that are easy to find, pretty quick prep work, cooks in no time and doesn’t require multiple pans, dishes and cooking methods.  And of course, it is a great recipe for that new wok my buddy just bought.

One hint on this dish though…. Before starting dinner be sure to make an “I cook, you clean” agreement with your better half.  I know I said it doesn’t require multiple pans, dishes and cooking methods.  Just trust me.  Do it.  You’ll thank me for it.

Chinese Beef and Cabbage

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 lb / 450g beef rump steak sliced thinly
  • 1 yellow or white onion sliced thinly
  • 1/2 head green cabbage cut into square chunks
  • 3 T canola oil divided use
  • 3 T crispy chili oil see note
  • 1 1/2 T soy sauce

Instructions

  1. Combine crispy chili oil and soy sauce in small bowl and set aside for later use.
  2. Heat wok or heavy bottom sauté pan over high heat until screaming hot (yes, I understand that is not a technical term).
  3. Add 1 1/2T canola oil and sauté onion quickly until translucent (no more than a minute).
  4. Add the cabbage and cook until browned but still crunchy. see note
  5. Remove cabbage and onions from wok and set aside.
  6. Return wok to the heat and add remaining oil.
  7. Add sliced rump steak to hot wok to brown on both sides. see note
  8. When meat is browned but not cooked through add chili/soy mixture and toss to combine.
  9. Add cooked onion/cabbage and toss to combine.
  10. Serve hot over rice with extra chili and soy on the side. see note

Recipe Notes

**Crispy chili in oil is shown in the ingredients photo. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it is widely available as I have sourced this same product in both Seattle as well as Australia. The brand name is Guiyang Nanming Laoganma . Look for the one that just says Crispy Chili or Crispy Chili Oil. There is a few different kinds available but this one best matched the original dish this takes after.

**For the cabbage as well as the beef you want a really nice char on them. (I would have liked more than pictured but I couldn't get my pan any hotter) This may mean cooking in smaller batches. If you put too much in the pan or wok it gets too crowded and the result is steam cooking which does not produce the results you want.

**Cooking 1 cup of Jasmine rice to 2 cups of water should be enough for this recipe.

 

Look for the red label Crispy Chili Oil
Look for the red label Crispy Chili Oil

 

Didn't I say trust me?!  I cook, you clean ok?
Didn’t I say trust me?! I cook, you clean ok?

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