I love to cook different kinds of meals and recipes, but Chinese is one of my favorites. This particular recipe ticks all the boxes.

I live about an hour's drive from the city. Between home and the city there are numerous small villages, a lot of mountains, and many winding roads, but very little choice on the culinary front.

Chinese cuisine is one of my favorites, but since I don't have many nearby options I have for years cooked Chinese food at home. In recent times, ingredients have become more widely available, too. This recipe is one of my favorites, and it's a regular Saturday night supper.

Cook Time

Ingredients

• 400g / 16oz quality beef steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 4 baby carrots, peeled and chopped into thin strips
• 1 large red pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 4 ounces bean sprouts, drained
• 2 spring onions, thinly diced
• 6 ounces egg noodles
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, lightly toasted

For the marinade:

• 1 teaspoons cornflour
• 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 small green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 cm fresh root ginger, finely grated
• 1 large garlic clove, crushed

Instructions

1. Make the marinade. In a bowl, blend the cornflour with the Chinese rice wine or dry sherry, then stir in the lemon juice, soy sauce, green chilli, root ginger and crushed garlic and mix together.
2. Add the beef strips to the marinade, cover and leave to marinade for 20 to 30 minutes. Set to one side.
3. While the beef marinades cook the egg noodles according to the packet instructions. Once cooked, drain and cool under cold running water. Drain again and set to one side.
4. To toast the sesmae seeds, place the sesame seeds in a dry wok or pan and dry fry over a moderate heat till golden brown. Remove and set to one side.
5. Heat the seasame oil and vegtable oil in the wok. Drain the beef strips reserving the marinade and stir fry till just browned (1 to 2 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon.
6. Add the carrot and pepper strips. Stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the diced spring onions and cook for 1 minute.
7. Return the steak to the wok with the marinade, add the beansprouts and the noodles, stir fry for a further 2 minutes mixing throughly to evenly coat all the ingredients with the marinade.
8. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and serve immediately to the table.

Homemade Chinese takeaway recipes have another huge advantage: the cost. It costs a fraction of the price to knock up a stir-fry for the family and of course you know the quality of the meat and vegetables that you are using in your stir-fry, so it will be much healthier for your family, too. Vegetables, noodles, and rice are the bulk in most Chinese dishes making your homemade stir-fry a more cost-effective and healthier substitute takeaway meal.

Should you decide that homemade Chinese takeaways are the future for your Saturday night supper, one big tip: invest in a wok. I recommend a large, non-stick wok with an extra holding handle (recommended below). The extra handle ensures easy maneuvering while stir-frying and easy serving of a hot wok straight to the table, being a generous 14-inches means everything can be cooked in the wok. Your Saturday night takeway supper doesn't have to be a chore.

Tips

• Use a good quality beef, the marinade helps tenderize the beef but it won't work miracles.
• The beef can be left to marinate for up to two hours beforehand.
• Pork loin also works in this stir-fry.
• Tofu, also known as bean curd (an original Chinese food), can be used as a meat substitute. Use a firm textured tofu, marinate, and stir fry exactly the same as the beef.
• Green peppers also work in this dish as do small broccoli florets.
• Stir-frying is a quick method of cooking over a high heat constantly stirring the food, if you are new to this and your stir fry is a little dry, add some water.
• To add extra heat, add more chilli and ginger to the marinade or sprinkle extra green chilli over the dish to serve.

© 2020 Gabriel Wilson

Comments

Gabriel Wilson (author) from Madeira, Portugal on October 18, 2020:

Hey Peggy. I am cooking at home all the time now and haven't eaten out this year. I have seen a big impact on my bank balance but mostly I have realised how expensive eating out can be and how cheap it is to make almost the same food at home.

Gabriel Wilson (author) from Madeira, Portugal on October 18, 2020:

Hope you enjoy Eric. It's a tasty dish :)

Gabriel Wilson (author) from Madeira, Portugal on October 18, 2020:

Hi Liz, it can be expensive and mostly rice and noodles too which are so cheap to buy in the store :)

We are very safe here on Madeira. Everyone gets checked at the airport, it's a small airport and are notified of the results the next day. So far our cases are minimal and everyone wears masks on the street. Social distancing is alocated on the beaches and people are happy to follow protocol. Kids wear masks to school and everyone is just getting on with it. We are all doing good and luckily tourists are coming to enjoy our weather and our vast mountain landscapes and levada's.

Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on October 17, 2020:

Your recipe sounds delicious! Thanks! We love eating Chinese food, and also enjoy cooking it at home.

Eric Dierker from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A. on October 17, 2020:

Well this certainly looks tasty. I think we will give it a try.

Liz Westwood from UK on October 17, 2020:

This is a great recipe. We like Chinese food, but often find that takeaway prices can quickly add up and homemade works out cheaper. How are things in Madeira? I noticed recently that it's one of the few places we can travel to from the UK without quarantine restrictions. Although this could well have changed.