After I finished my intern year, I moved to a new hospital in a different state and instead of looking for house mates, I decided that I would finally live alone. While I enjoyed every bit of it and still think it was one of the best decisions I ever made, the one thing I did miss was cooking with my flatmates.

We often used to take turns making meals for each other or together depending on our schedules, which was a lot of fun and also meant I learnt a lot. However, now that I lived alone and was essentially cooking for myself, most of my meals became quick meals that I could get a few portions out of and reheat.

Ginger beef was one of these dishes, mainly because it is so easy to make and it is yummy. While traditionally it is made with just ginger and scallions, I opted to just stick with ginger and add vegetables so it was a one pot meal which takes about 15 minutes to throw together during a busy week. (twice in the last 10 days!)

The only issue we have now is that Dan prefers to have it with Broccoli and chilli flakes, while I like it with baby corn, mangetout and feel it doesn’t need the chilli flakes. Though, it really is not that big a problem on the grand scale of things.

Ingredients

350grams of beef stir fry strips or beef flank/tenderloin steak sliced
3.5 inches of ginger sliced thinly
Broccoli 250gms
1 clove garlic diced
1/4 tsp white pepper
0.5 tsp ginger granules

Or

100gm Mangetout
150gm Baby corn

Sauce
0.5 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
6 tablespoons water

Beef marinade
0.5 tbsp lea & perrins/worcestershire sauce
0.5 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water

Optional
Chili flakes (0.5 tbsp)

Method
1. Marinade the beef strips and fry in oil till half cooked, then set aside.
2. Fry ginger and garlic in a little oil until fragrant.
3. Add the beef, vegetables and sauce mixture and stir fry over high heat till meat is cooked.
4. Finally add white pepper and ginger granules, and fry for about a minute
4. Top with chilli flakes if you like and serve with white rice

Which would you prefer, broccoli or baby corn and mangetout person?