More Chinese food was the order of the day while we watched the Closing Olympic Ceremonies in Beijing! I was particularly looking forward to this one.... I haven't been eating meat lately, so we bought the most expensive cut of meat money can buy in Marks and Spencers. Those cows sure do taste better when they've been allowed to freely rome around the farm!
Also exciting was the use of our new Bamix hand blender to grind down black and white pepper for the seasoning. I'm so used to using bland spices that have been sitting in the cupboard for a while that I added way too much fresh ground pepper at first! We had to add some more noodles and pak choi to tone it down a bit! But it's so worth getting the authentic ingredients for this dish, and using good quality meat - it was stunning.
This dish almost made up for having to watch the excruitiatingly cringly handover to London at the ceremonies. Can someone please get Boris Johnson to a tailor? He shouldn't have to wear his dad's trousers now that he's mayor of London!!
Dry-fry 1/2 a teaspoon each of black and white peppercorns. Let them cool, then use your hand blender or a mortar and pestle to grind them into a rough powder.
Combine 3 tablespoons of chicken or vegetable stock, 2 tablespoons of Shao Xing rice wine, 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Heat a wok over high heat and add peanut or sunflower oil. When the oil is very hot, add 2 cloves of garlic, a spoonful of grated fresh ginger, and half the peppercorn mixture. After a few seconds, (you are just flavouring the oil here), add 200g of very thinly sliced beef fillet, and stir fry for 1 minute. Pour in the sauce and fry for another minute. Add 6 sliced shiitake mushrooms, and 2 chopped pak chois. Throw in 500g of fresh udon noodles, and stir to coat. Serve with the remaining peppercorn mixture on top.
