imafan26 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 2:13 am
Pak choi matures fast in like 45 days. The flowers are edible too. If it were choi sum you would actually wait until the buds appear before harvesting them. The size of the pak choi depends on the variety there are short pak choi as well as tall ones. I have both and bok choy as well. Here pak choi can alse be called white stem cabbage or pe chai (Filipino, Chinese). I actually prefer the baby bok and green stem cabbage, but they can be used almost the same way. The flavor of pak choi is milder than bok choi.
Chinese food is so easy to make.
You slice the beef accross the grain and pound it to tenderize or you can use baking soda.
Marinate meat 1 lb (beef, pork, chicken)
1 tsp baking soda (tenderize meat, optional)
1 tbs Oyster sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs water
1 tbs cornstarch
1/4 tsp white pepper (Chinese prefer white pepper, but I don't like the taste so I use black pepper)
1 tsp sugar or sugar substitute
1 tbs cooking wine (Shaoxing wine or Sherry) It is easier to find sherry than good shaoxing. I use dry sherry.
Combine all the marinade ingredients, add meat and massage the mixture for about 15 seconds and let it sit covered in the refrigerator for about 30-60 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.
Cut up your vegetables into bite sized pieces and set aside.
Sauce: Combine the following in a small dish and set aside
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp cooking wine
Heat wok. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. If you are using ginger or garlic add that now and stir fry. Remove garlic when it browns do not burn or it will be bitter. Set aside in a large bowl.
In the flavored oil on med. high heat, stir fry the marinated meat until it is cooked. It should only take a couple of minutes to brown and set aside in the bowl with the garlic.
If you need to add more oil then add a tablespoon at a time.
Stir fry each vegetable separately until crisp tender. This is an important step don't skip it. It tastes very different when you stir fry the vegetables separately than when you throw them in together. The individual flavors are more distinct and some of the vegetables end up over cooked if they are all cooked together. Set the cooked vegetable into the same bowl with the meat and garlic after each is done. Add oil as needed to fry the vegetable without sticking. It should only take a few minutes to stir fry each vegetable until crisp tender. Green vegetables like broccoli should turn a brighter green when done.
After all the vegetables are stir fried. Add everything in the bowl back into the wok and add the sauce.
Stir fry until heated through and serve on hot rice.
If you don't have the light and dark soy sauce. You can use regular soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is fermented longer so it is sweeter. You can add an additional 0.5-1 tsp of sugar or sugar substitute to the sauce if you only use regular soy sauce. You can taste it and decide if you need to make it sweeter. The sweetness offsets the salt. I use low sodium soy sauce, so the sugar in the marinade is enough for me. Honey gives it a different taste, and I sometimes use honey in the marinade instead of sugar.
If you like the taste of sesame you can also add a tsp of sesame oil to the sauce and 1-3 tsp toasted sesame seeds as a garnish. Salt to taste. There is so much salt in the oyster sauce and soy sauce, that I really don't need to add any.
velveting meat (tenderize tough meat) alternative to the above meat marinade
1 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil or light sesame oil
1 tbs dry sherry or shaoxing wine
1 tsp sugar
Slice one lb of protein (beef, pork, chicken) into thin slices across the grain for beef. It helps if the meat is partially frozen. It makes it easier to slice thin slices. Combine ingredients and massage it in to the meat for 15 seconds. Cover and refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Prepare as above. 1 egg white can be added to the cornstarch to make a slurry before adding the rest of the ingredients. This will make the cornstarch layer thicker and more "spongy".