Posted by admin | Posted in Red Meat | Posted on 21-12-2011
Tags: Asparagus Tips, Ch'ao, Clove, Clove Garlic, Color Salt, Cornstarch Mixture, Dessert Spoon, Garlic, Largest Frying Pan, meat, Meat Slices, Onion Slices, Onions, Pancake Turner, Peanut Oil, Sherry, Tablespoon, Teaspoon Cornstarch, Teaspoon Soy Sauce, Teaspoon Water, Thin Slices, Vegetable Oil, Vegetables
1/2 pound onions
1/2 pound frenched beans or asparagus tips
1/2 pound meat (any kind tender enough for roasting)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon water (or more)
4 tablespoons peanut oil (or other vegetable oil)
Salt
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon sherry (optional)
Cut the vegetables into thin slices about an inch long. Cut the meat across the grain as thinly as possible, more or less to the same size as the vegetables. Dissolve cornstarch in the soy sauce and water, and mix the meat slices in it.
Put a tablespoon of oil into a frying pan. When it boils, put in the onion slices and stir them thoroughly until golden. Add no water, but if necessary to prevent the onions from burning, add a little more oil, lower the heat, and put a lid over the pan so that the steam created will soften the vegetable.
When it is cooked, salt to taste and set aside.
Then clean the frying pan or use another one, and cook the beans or asparagus tips the same way. Since these contain less water than onions, you may add a teaspoonful of water if necessary to prevent them from getting too dry or losing their green color. Salt to taste; set aside.
Now, using your largest frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil to boiling. Then rub the pan all over with a piece of garlic on a fork and discard it afterward. Turn the heat high, and with a pancake turner or large slotted spoon spread the meat slices all around the pan. Press them hard against the hot surface and stir quickly until the meat is about 80 per cent cooked (still partly red). Put in the previously cooked vegetables, mix well and stir rapidly until the meat is about 97 per cent cooked.
Then serve the whole mixture without delay. The meat will be done when it reaches the table.
If the mixed ingredients get too dry in the process of cooking, a dessert spoon of sherry may be added. Or you may add the sherry to the cornstarch mixture. Garlic might be omitted if your meat ingredient is chicken.
VARIATIONS OF CH’AO
You can make the dish meatier by reversing the proportions: i.e., use about 1 pound of meat to 6 or 8 ounces of vegetables. The meat could be beef, mutton, lamb, veal, pork, venison, poultry. Sea foods are just as good: lobster, crayfish, scallops, prawns, or any fish that is solid enough to be cut in slices without falling to pieces when cooked. The vegetables may be of almost any kind other than starchy tubers, such as potatoes, so choose among vegetables in season, when they are at their best. The seasonings may change, too, as explained in the next chapter, on stir-fry cooking techniques. The soy sauce is salty, so be wary of adding much salt.
