Stir-Fried Beef with Silky Leeks

Name: Stir-Fried Beef with Silky Leeks (京葱牛肉片)
Yield: Serves 2 as a main dish in combination with noodles or stir-fried rice, 4 as part of a multicourse meal.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: ½ pound round steak or flank steak, all fat and tough sinew removed (weight after trimming); 3 cups corn or peanut oil, for deep-frying; ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt; ½ teaspoon white sugar; 1½ teaspoons hoisin sauce; ½ teaspoon Chinese or Japanese sesame oil; 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or quality, dry sherry; 2 teaspoons brown or white sugar; 1½ teaspoons corn or peanut oil; ¾–1 pound leeks, rinsed and trimmed of stem ends, wilted greens, and top 2 inches of green stalk (weight before trimming); 2 teaspoons thin (regular) soy sauce; 1 tablespoon thin (regular) soy sauce; 2 teaspoons cornstarch; ½ teaspoon brown sugar

京葱牛肉片

Preparation info

Serves
2
as a main dish in combination with noodles or stir-fried rice .

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking

By Barbara Tropp

Published 1982

About

Leeks and beef are most common to the northern reaches of China, where the brisk climate makes hearty, lightly sweet stir-frys such as this one exceedingly popular. In my kitchen it usually appears crowning a pillow of Pot-Browned Noodles, and a more satisfying winter meal I find hard to imagine. Tastewise and visually, it is a striking combination.