Another beef and tofu stirfry
First, there was beef con tokwa. And now a new way of seasoning the classic beef and tofu stirfy. No oyster sauce, just soy paste and a little light brown sugar.
The classic way of making stirfried beef dishes is to use tender cuts of beef like sirloin, top round, bottom round… or the very expensive tenderloin. With cuts of beef like that, stirfrying is accomplished in just a few minutes. But when on a budget, one can’t always buy the expensive cuts. Does that mean no stirfried beef dishes?
Substitute. Beef brisket is one of the most versatille cuts of beef available. Buy the brisket in slabs, boil them, cool them then slice them as thinly as you want. You get plenty of beef stock to boot.
According to the Chinese, a good dish is not just about good flavor. It also means good color and texture. The vegetables that go into a stirfried dish should accomplish all that–a variety in texture, wonderful colors and the cooked dish should be good in flavor and aroma. Hence, crunchy carrot slices and slivers of celery, tender beef and golden tofu seemed a wonderful combination.
Ingredients :
400 g. of beef brisket
1-1/2 heads of garlic
2 large white onions
1 bay leaf
a few stalks of leeks
5-6 peppercorns
3 small cakes of tofu, soaked in water for several hours to remove the plastery taste
3-4 stalks of celery, leaves removed
1 carrot
4 tbsps. of soy paste
2 c. of beef broth
1 tsp. of light brown sugar
2 tsps. of tapioca starch
1 tsp. of sesame seed oil
cooking oil for frying the tofu
salt and pepper
Cooking procedure :
Wash the beef brisket and place in a casserole. Cover with water. Add the one whole garlic, one whole onion, leeks, peppercorns and bay leaf. Season with salt. Set over high heat and bring to a boil, removing scum as it rises. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until tender. Alternatively, pressure-cook for an hour, counting from the time the valve starts to whistle.
Meanwhile drain the tofu and cut into 1-1/2″ cubes.
Heat about 2 c. of cooking oil in a skillet or wok until smoking. Fry the tofu cubes until golden. Drain on paper towels.
When the beef is done, remove the broth and cool. Chill for an hour after cooling completely to make slicing easier. Strain the broth and measure 2 cups. Freeze the rest for future use.
Slice the beef thinly, about 1/4″, then cut into bite-size pieces. 1″ x 2″ is a good size.
Peel the half head of garlic and mince. Peel the remaining onion, halve and slice thinly. Peel the carrot and cut into rings about 1/8″ thick. Cut the celery sticks diagonally into 2″ lengths.
Disperse the tapioca starch in the cooled broth. Stir in the soy paste, sugar and sesame seed oil.
Heat 4 tbsps. of cooking oil in a skillet or wok. Saute the garlic and onion until fragrant. Add the carrot rings and celery and stirfry over high heat for about a minute. Add the sliced beef brisket and continue stirfrying for another minute or until the meat is heated through. Add the fried tofu and toss. Pour in the starch solution. Cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick and no longer cloudy. Season with salt and pepper, if you prefer.
Serve at once.
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hi! ive tried this dish yesterday but i didnt have any soy paste…i used oyster sauce instead and turned out really nice. ill try to find soy paste next time coz im wondrin how it tastes if i really followed ur recipe.
my brother and his wife…and of course my partner really loved it. in fact my sister in law said she’ll try cookin it- i strongly recommended ur website.
thank you, cooksie.
i would really love to cook this `cause my husband`s Japanese and I think he will like it because of the tofu but can I just use soy/oyster sauce instead of soy paste? thanks.
and can I also use cornstarch instead of tapioca starch `cause I can`t read Japanese and I don`t know which one it is in the supermarket?
fkonuma, yes, you can use soy sauce. and yes you can use corn starch although you may have to cook the sauce a little longer because cornstarch leaves a floury taste in the mouth if not sufficiently cooked.
thanks!!!