Margarita's International Recipes

Canadian

Ginger Beef Canada is home to over a million Chinese Canadians, so it's not surprising that the Chinese have made their mark on Canadian cuisine. This delicious stir fry was adapted by restaurant chefs in Calgary to best suit Canadian's palates and has become a favorite in the West Coast. It's slowly making its way to the rest of the country, and if Canadians know what's good for them, they'll start adopting it pretty quickly. I've made Chinese food before, but this is, by far, the best Chinese dish I've made (perhaps because it adapted to Western palates. I found the flavors perfectly balanced, the ginger, in particular, was right on. I served it over rice. I followed the original recipe pretty much exactly, though I combined a couple of steps into one, increased the amounts and forewent the hot peppers. I'm sure a little bit of spice would add to this dish, but I wanted my kids to eat it. The oldest one sort of ate it, but found it too alcoholic for her taste. The youngest one didn't like it at all. It was probably a bit intense for their palates. Ginger Beef Ingredients 1/3 cup + 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, divided 4 1/2 Tbsp. rice wine, divided 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided 1 1/2 lbs. top sirloin, thinly sliced 1 large egg white 2/3 cup water, divided 1/3 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch, divided 1/3 cup flour 3/4 tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. sesame oil 5 scallions, finely sliced 3 Tbsp. minced ginger 5 cloves of garlic, minced 1 red bell pepper, julienned 1 large carrot, julienned 4 dried chile peppers (optional) Oil for deep frying Instructions Whisk together 3 Tbsp. soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp. rice wine and 1 Tbsp. sugar. Add the sliced beef and coat well. Marinate for at least half an hour. Meanwhile, make a batter by whisking the egg white with 1/3 cup water. Add 1/3 cup cornstarch, the flour and the salt. Whisk well together and set aside. Also meanwhile make a sauce by combining 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup soy sauce, 3 Tbsp. rice wine, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil and 1/3 cup sugar. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch and whisk well. Set aside as well. Once you are ready to cook, pour enough oil in a wok or deep frying to submerge the beef. Heat over medium-high heat. Add the batter to the beef and mix well. Drop the beef into the hot oil, being careful to keep each slice separate. Cook for about 3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper napkin lined plate, you will likely have to do this in batches. Once you are done cooking the beef, pour out most of the oil from the wok leaving about 2 Tbsp. Heat oil again over medium-high heat and add the vegetables. Stir fry until carrots are cooked through but still firm, about 5-7 minutes. Give a whisk to the sauce to make sure it's well combined and pour it onto the vegetables. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook it until it starts boiling. Return meat to the pan, turn off the heat and coat well. Serve immediately over rice. Adapted from a recipe at Whats4eats.com Canadian Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail