Crash's Vegetarian Spicy HOT Sesame Seed Beef

Expected time to prepare - 30 minutes prep time, then 5 minutes stirfry.

Scoville rating: 10,000 - 30,000 (approximate)

Credits: I stole this recipe from Ed Falk, who stole it from someone else. I've changed a few things (no oyster sauce, a little more sugar, different veggies) but that's the way good cooking goes.

CAUTION: The hot bean paste and stir-frying can burn you, both chemically and thermally. BE CAREFUL and WEAR SAFETY GLASSES.

CAUTION: The recommended types and amounts of the ingredients below may cause you extreme distress should you get them into an eye or other bodily orfice undiluted. For this reason WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES and WASH HANDS CAREFULLY AFTER HANDLING THESE MATERIALS!!!

You have been warned...

Ingredients for about 4 servings of Hot Sesame Seed Beef

Start by making the marinate:

2 tablespoons rice wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

Mix the marinate up well; mixing it in a 3-quart bowl will let you marinate the beef in the same bowl.

Slice the beef

1 lb (1/2 kg) really good beef; kabobbed is good
a sharp knife and a cutting board

Get yourself a pound of really good beef; kabobs is fine (and cheaper) for the same quality beef.

Slice the beef across the grain; you are shooting for pieces that are about 1/8" (2 to 3 mm) thick, and 1/2 or so inch wide (1 to 2 cm wide), by a couple inches (4 to 6 cm) long.

Put the sliced beef into the marinate as you slice it; you want the marinate to soak in.

Leave the beef in the marinate as you prepare the stirfry veggies. 10 minutes is enough, 20 minutes is better.

The Veggies

Get yourself a couple cups worth of any/all of the following; they all work, you can mix to taste or favor.

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger <-- YOU NEED TO GET THIS
broccoli - cut the stems to make bite-size florets
carrots - clean, and slice-cut at an angle
bok-choy - tear to bite-sized pieces
snowpea pods - clean, use as is
scallions - clean and chop
whatever else looks good at the market. If you like it, you'll like it.

Have these veggies EXCEPT for the ginger ready to dump in last. The ginger goes in _first_, before the beef, so don't mix the ginger in. You want about two cups or so of chopped veggies, to go with the beef

Make The Magic Sauce

You need to get this at the market too:

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon "Hot Bean Paste" (may be labeled "chili pepper bean paste"). You can get it at chinese markets. This is the HOT stuff, be careful how you handle it. If you want a milder dish, put in less.
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (get it next to the hot bean paste; this is really mild sweetish sauce.

Put these all together in a small bowl, and have ready for adding after you finish the stirfry.

The Stir Fry Part

Get out a wok. Put about 2 to 4 teaspoons of peanut oil in it; vary to taste. Turn the heat up high. When a bit of ginger dances around or bubbles madly when you toss it in, it's hot enough to fry. Toss in the ginger, and let the ginger brown for just a bit.

Keep the heat all the way up, and add about 1/4 the beef. Stir-fry it, meaning to stir it madly around while swearing in an exotic foreign language. When the beef looks almost but not quite cooked, scoop it out with a fork or strainer, allow whatever oil wants to drip to drip, and put the cooked beef to the side. Let the oil heat up again (almost to the smoke point) and repeat for the rest of the beef, in 1/4 lb batches (the idea here is to do small batches so the oil doesn't get too cold.)

When the beef is cooked, put ALL the beef back into the wok, dump the veggies in, and stir it all around for a minute or two at high heat. This warms the veggies but doesn't wilt them.

If things look too oily, pour off any excess oil NOW. You probably won't need to do this unless you used a lot of oil in the stirfry.

Turn off the heat, and add the Magic Sauce. Stir well, so everything gets coated (the little oil that's left helps the magic sauce to flow out on everything.)

You're done.

Enjoy. It's good for you. :)