Stir-fried beef and green asparagus

Stir-fries are a must for those of us who are often faced with the dilemma of having to (wanting to!) cook proper meals with little time on our hands. Stir-fries are easy, quick, yummy and healthy! Who wants to eat a ready-made meal if you can have tender beef, crunchy asparagus all mixed with a sauce of teriyake, lime juice, fresh ginger and hot chilis? Give it a try, I promise it's not difficult!

And for those with little or no stir-frying experience: this is all about fast cooking at high temperatures. Think "The Fast and The Furious" rather than "Sense and Sensibility". First and foremost this means that need to have everything ready. You don't want to start chopping ingredients in the middle of this. Also, remember that this is going to be very quick, so if you need to set your table, cook some rice, open a bottle of wine, you should all of this in advance (or, even better, delegate).

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 spring onions

2 tablespoons of finely fresh chopped ginger

2 cloves of garlic

1 red chili

5 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons of soya sauce

1 tablespoon of dark sesame oil

1 tablespoon of lime juice

1 teaspoon of cornstarch
2 teaspoons of sugar

350gr rumpsteak

500gr green asparagus

salt, pepper, extra sesame oil

Preparation: 

1. Clean and finely slice the spring onion. Peel the garlic and chop finely. Cut the chili in rings (I tend to leave the seeds in to add that extra spice). Remove the fat from the steak and slice diagonally into 1/2 cm stripes. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus and cut into 2-3cm pieces. 

2. Mix the ginger, garlic, chili, teriyaki sauce, soya sauce, sesame oil, sugar, lime juice and blend in the cornstarch. Set aside.

3. Heat a wok to high heat, add a bit of sesame oil and fry the asparagus. After about 2 minutes start adding spoonfuls of water one at a time (4-5 in total), each time allowing the liquid to boil away before adding more. The asparagus should still be quite crunchy. Remove the wok from the heat.  

4. Heat a large frying pan to a very high heat, adding a tablespoon of sesame oil. Once the pan is searingly hot (don't worry if it starts to smoke a little) fry the meat very briefly, just until it starts to brown slightly. The idea is not to cook the meat through (it will only end up getting tough), so just leave it in the pan for about 15 seconds on each side (I recommend you do this in batches). Remove the cooked meat and place it in the wok.

5. Once the meat is all done, return the wok to the stove and heat everything up (don't be shy on the heat, you want this to be sizzling). Add the sauce. mix well and wait until it starts to bubble away. The cornstarch will make the sauce thicken slightly and it will stick to the meat and the asparagus. This should start happening after a few minutes. Sprinkle with some spring onions and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from: www.esssen-und-trinken.de

Seared Tuna and Cucumber Salad

The first time I tried this was in a rather unlikely location: a restaurant in Disney World! Surprisingly enough, it turns out that they do have restaurants there that serve an alternative to the omnipresent burgers and fries that you find everywhere else. When I got back home I immediately tried to copy the recipe and while I don't think that I achieved a perfect match, it's pretty close. Obviously this dish relies almost entirely on the quality of the fish, so you need to get the highest possible quality of sushi-tuna you can find. 

Ingredient (for 4 as main course):

For the tuna:

800-900gr sushi quality tuna

3 tbs Sesame seeds

2 tbs chopped coriander
3cm piece of fresh ginger

1 red chili

For the salad: 

1 handful roasted peanuts

2 cucumbers

1 small red onion

6 tbs rice wine vinegar

1 tbs fish sauce

2-3 tbs sugar

1/2 bunch of coriander

Juice of half a lime
1/2 red chili

Preparation:

1. Roast the sesame seeds in a dry pan. Finely chop the coriander, the chili and grate the ginger. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and add some salt. Coat the tuna with this mixture and set aside.

2. For the cucumber salad you first need to drain the cucumbers (they contain a lot of water, which will end up diluting the dressing). Finely slice the peeled cucumber, place them in a bowl and add two teaspoons of salt. Mix and set aside for 10mins. 

3. In the meantime, finely chop the onion. Add the vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, and some chili to the onion and mix well until the sugar is fully dissolved. Drain the cucumbers (the salt will have pulled out much of the water) and add the dressing.

4. Heat up a pan to high heat, add a bit of sesame oil and sear the tuna on both sides for no more than one minute (each side). Remove from the pan and slice finely to serve.

5. Add coriander and chopped peanuts to the cucumber salad and season to taste. 

The tuna is served finely sliced with some rice and cucumber salad. You should also have soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger on the table.

Sticky Soy-Sherry Chicken

Both of my parents are passionate cooks, so I guess it's not surprising that many of my childhood memories are related to food in some way or the other. This recipe was a stable during my childhood and while we hadn't eaten it in a very long time, my father still had the original recipe on file somewhere. As turns out, it's still just as good as it was when I was a kid.

Ingredients (serves 4): 

1 Chicken (1,5kg)

150ml Soy sauce (preferably the low-sodium kind)

150ml Sherry or Mirin (I actually used the later)

    2 tbs Sugar

    1 clove of garlic

    1 1/2 tbs freshly grated ginger

    Sesame oil

Preparation:

1. Cut the chicken in 10 pieces (or have your butcher do this for you). 

2. Mix the soy sauce, the sherry (or Mirin) in a deep dish. Add the mined garlic, the sugar, and the grated ginger. Place the chicken in the marinade and leave it there for at least one hour (there is no need to put this in the fridge). 

3. After an hour, take the chicken out and dry it off using kitchen paper. Keep the marinate! Heat up some sesame oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken from all sides over medium heat. Careful: because there is quite a bit of sugar in the marinade, the chicken will burn quickly! 

4. Once the chicken is evenly brown, take it out of the pan, get rid of the excess fat (I just wipe the pan with some kitchen paper), and return the chicken to the pan. Now add half of the marinade and cook for another 25mins over medium heat with the lid on, occasionally turning the chicken. 

The chicken is served with rice and green vegetables such as pak-choi or sugar snaps. .