Rusted Revolution

Since moving to my new place, I’ve suddenly found myself behaving slightly more domestic than usual. Cooking has always been more of a chore than a hobby to me, but recently I’ve begun to realize how healthy, delicious, and frugal making my own meals can be.

I grew up in a bi-racial household, with my mother’s Chinese-Filipino heritage present in a lot of family dinners. Asian cuisine is my favorite cuisine, and luckily, it’s my roommate’s too.

I inherited some lovely Asian recipes from my family, and Hoisin Beef is one of my favorites:

Hoisin Beef

• 1 lb Delmonico (or sirloin) steak, sliced thin
• 4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 5 tablespoons Chinese rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 stalks green onions, chopped
• 3 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 5 dried chili peppers
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 whole yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 1 pepper sliced
• 1 medium zucchini cut into chunks
• 1 cup snow peas
• 1/2 can whole baby corn
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine steak in large bowl with Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar, sugar, green onions, ginger, 1 teaspoon garlic, and dry chili peppers. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in fridge. Marinade steak for about 1 hour.

Stir fry marinated steak in 1 tablespoon oil, cook until almost done.

Set mostly cooked steak aside.

Thicken remaining marinade with 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with water. Bring to boil in sauce pan.

Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil with  and 1 teaspoon garlic, stir fry onion, pepper, zucchini, snow peas, and baby corn.

Add the cooked steak to the stir fried vegetables. Cook until heated through.

Stir in as much sauce as you want into the steak and vegetables.

Serve with rice.

I’ve had fun experimenting with some ingredients and modifications to the traditional dish.

The marinade proportions in this recipe differ from my mom’s original version — I love having a little extra sauce to go over the rice, and I added a little kick by throwing in some chilies that we had laying around the kitchen. The sauce also works perfectly with grilled chicken, as a dipping sauce for pot stickers, and as a marinade for roasted pork loin.

Happy eating!

xox,
Lesley