Beef and Gai Lan is one of the dishes my wife's family always orders when they eat at a Chinese restaurant. The beef is more tender than any beef I've had and it pairs amazing with the tender gai lan. Do yourself a favor and learn this recipe. You will not be disappointed.
This is probably the dish I look forward to the most when eating with my wife's family. The beef is extremely tender, usually medium rare, and it just pairs so well with everything else, from the sauce to the gai lan. There are a few techniques I will be showing to get the beef to taste as tender as the restaurant.
What beef cut to use?
For this recipe, I would highly recommend flank steak. Flank steak is one of the best cuts for stir-fries. The reason is because the muscle fibers are very loosely coupled so as long as you cut the meat along the grain, the meat will be very tender.
If you can't find flank steak (sometimes it is hard to find), you could use striploin or top sirloin as well. Even an inexpensive cut like the chuck or round will work, but you will need to do more work to tenderize it beforehand.
Important steps for tender beef
1. Pound the meat
I only do this if I'm not using flank steak. Flank steak already has very loose muscle fibers, so it doesn't need to be pounded. But tough cuts like chuck and round will benefit a lot from being pounded.
To pound the meat, you can use a meat mallet or rolling pin. The way I do it is by placing the meat in a plastic bag and pounding it repeatedly. You need to use quite a bit of force and repetition for this to actually work. I pound repeatedly for about 2 minutes and I usually place the bag on the floor so I can pound it harder.
2. Cutting the beef
If you look very closely at the meat, you will see many lines running across it. These are the muscle fibers. To make the beef more tender, you want to cut across these fibers rather than with them. What this does is it shortens the fibers in each piece of meat and makes it easier to chew and therefore, more tender to eat.
3. Marinate for at least one hour
The marinade is extremely important for flavoring the meat and tenderizing it. One of the most important ingredients is baking soda, which will chemically tenderize the meat as it sits. I typically let the meat marinate for at least one hour, but overnight will guarantee the best results.
Beef and Gai Lan Stir-fry
Ingredients
Beef marinade
- ½ pound flank steak
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teapsoon cornstarch
Gai lan
- 1 pound gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- ⅛ teaspoon MSG (optional)
Stir-fry
- 3 tablespoons oil (divided)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
Instructions
Preparing the beef
- If you're using flank steak, you can skip this step. Otherwise, if you're using another cut, place it in a plastic bag and pound it with a meat mallet or rolling pin for a few minutes to tenderize it.
- Place the beef on a cutting board and determine the direction of the grain. Cut the beef ACROSS the grain into ¼-inch thick slices (see blog post for details).
- Add the beef to a bowl with the rest of the marinade ingredients and marinate for at least one hour, but ideally overnight.
Preparing the gai lan
- Cut the gai lan in half, separating the stems and leafy parts.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
- Blanch the stems for 60 seconds, then add the leaves and blanch for another 30 seconds. Drain thoroughly and set aside.
Stir-fry
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- Heat the wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the garlic for 15 seconds.
- Add the gai lan and cook for another minute. Remove the gai lan to a plate.
- Put the wok back on the stove (see notes for deep-frying) and add the remaining two tablespoons of oil. Add the beef in a single layer and cook for 30-45 seconds on each side until just brown.
- Push the meat to the side of the wok, and add the sauce mixture to the empty space. Cook the sauce until it thickens, then quickly toss with the meat. Remove from the heat.
- Add the gai lan to the wok and quickly toss to coat in the sauce. Transfer to a serving dish and enjoy!
Sam
This was an awesome meal. I will definitely make it again. Cheers!