Quick-Fried Beef with Oyster Sauce

Recipe By : Chinese Regional Cooking by Kenneth Lo

Serving Size : 6

• 1 pound beef steak
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons sherry
• 4 tablespoons beef stock
• 2 slices ginger root
• 2 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• pepper -- to taste

Cut the beef into small thin slices and rub these with the salt and 1/2 tablespoon of oil. Mix the soy sauce, cornstarch, water, sherry and stock in a bowl until well blended. Finely chop the ginger.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. When hot add the beef, spreading the pieces out, and stir-fry them over a high heat for 1 minute. Add the ginger, followed by the oyster sauce and sugar, and continue to stir-fry for 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce mixture from the bowl, and continue to stir-fry over a high heat for a further minute. Serve immediately on a well-heated dish. This mixture of seafood flavor with meat is a common Cantonese practice which most southerners enjoy, but which is not always accepted in central and north China.