This recipe was discovered by my sister Mira, it’s likely she stumbled across it in one of those trashy women’s magazines, or it was passed onto her by a friend, the reality is, she can’t actually remember where! So Mira passed it onto Mum, who passed it onto me over the phone. Turns out that I misheard the recipe and got it a little backwards, kinda like Chinese-whispers I guess. The other mistake I made was using chicken rather than pork fillet, as chicken was all I had in the fridge at the time.

Anyway, despite getting so many key ingredients wrong, the stir-fry was delicious, in fact better than I remembered my sister making it. This stir-fry has now become a weekly staple, but I like to call it the ‘Chicken Pork Stir-fry’ and it’s one of David’s favourites, so I always make sure I have some chicken breast, thinly sliced by my butcher ready to go.

It’s best to marinade overnight, but a couple hours will suffice. The cooking time is less than 15 minutes so it makes a perfect weeknight dinner. Serve with steamed green beans and medium grain rice.
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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
1/2 cup (125ml) peanut oil
1/2 cup (125ml) teriyaki marinade and sauce (I prefer Kikkoman)
5cm piece of ginger, peeled, finely chopped or grated
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped or grated
2 teaspoons caster sugar
700g pork fillet, thinly sliced (or chicken breast)
1 large onion, peeled, thinly sliced lengthways
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
Freshly ground black pepper

Method
1) In a medium non-reactive bowl combine peanut oil, teriyaki, ginger, garlic and sugar. Whisk with a fork to emulsify, add pork or chicken and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or minumum of 2 hours).

2) Heat wok or large frying pan over high heat. Remove chicken from marinade (do not discard marinade), add meat to wok and stir-fry until just cooked (5 minutes). Add onion, cumin and continue to stir-fry (3 minutes). Pour remaining marinade over chicken and onion. Add cornflour to 1/3 cup water and stir until smooth, add to wok. Bring to the boil and stir-fry until sauce thickens (2-3 minutes). Season with white pepper and freshly ground black pepper. Serve while hot with plain medium grain rice and steamed green beans.

Tips:
- Double this recipe to make an easy reheat weeknight dinner (cook the meat in batches).
- If you don’t have cornflour use plain flour, but be sure to add directly to the wok to cook/toast the flour, then pour over the marinade and water.

What is it about Asian food that makes you feel light and healthy. Maybe it’s the balance of flavours, the fresh produce. Then again, maybe it’s the smaller sized serving bowls that force you to eat less!

Although I love to cook I don’t always have 3 hours to spare preparing a lavish feast during the week. So when a quick and easy restaurant quality recipe comes my way it excites me to think that I can have a fancy looking and tasting meal in just over 30 minutes. Seriously, why bother with take-away when you can eat just as quickly (and cheaply) without having to leave home.

The first time I tried this beef was at a Bondi bbq. The host, a friend with a Korean/Japanese background quickly prepared the beef with a simple marinade and then popped it on the barbie, after a few minutes it was all done. It tasted so good that I’ve been pestering him for the recipe since.

The best way to enjoy this Korean beef is with hot rice and a glass of warm sake.

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
500g porterhouse or New York beef, thinly sliced into 5mm thick strips (you can also use scotch fillet or sirloin pre-cut stir fry strips available in supermarkets)
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, plus extra for serving, lightly browned
1/3 cup (80ml) soy sauce (I prefer Kikoman)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2-3 shallots, finely chopped (white part and 6-10cm of green part), use some of the green part to garnish
Vegetable oil, for searing

For rice
2 cups (440g) medium grain white rice, rinsed until the water runs clear and drained
3 cups (750ml) cold water

Method
1) Add sesame seeds to a pan/wok (low-medium heat), gently shake and toast for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

2) In a medium bowl combine soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Whisk to dissolve sugar (1-2 minutes). Add sesame seeds and shallots, stir to combine. Add beef, coat well, cover with plastic wrap and marinade for 20-30 minutes.

3) Meanwhile place the rinsed rice in a saucepan, add cold water, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer with the lid on for 12 minutes. Turn off heat and stand covered for a further 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and set aside until ready to serve.
Note: Keep a close eye on the rice as it may overflow while cooking, if it does just take the lid off for a few seconds, reduce the heat slightly, cover again and continue cooking.

4) Heat wok or bbq hotplate to very hot and lightly oil. Remove 1/4 of the beef slices from the marinade and sear for 15-30 seconds on each side or until cooked to your liking. Quickly clean the wok/hotplate with a paper towel, lightly oil and cook the 2nd batch. Continue cooking in batches, rest for 5 minutes, sprinkle over extra sesame seeds and shallots, serve with hot rice.

Tips:
- Ask your butcher to slice the meat into very thin strips.
- To slice your own beef, freeze for 15 minutes (this will make it easier to slice), remove from the freezer and slice thinly along the natural grain of the meat.