Stir-fry Beef

References - Gordon Ramsay: How to stir-fry beef

I once bought beef chunks from a wet market seller on his recommendation that the beef was soft, tender and would be suitable for stir-fry. Sure enough, it turned out tender and palatable. Encouraged, I went to the same seller and bought another piece. This time the beef turned out tough and unpalatable.

What had gone wrong? Did I set the wok fire too high? Or did the seller give me a wrong cut? Even if he had intentionally given me a less choice cut I would not know, because the meat(s) were scattered all over the tray. Inner cuts of a beef chuck, for instance, sell for more than the tougher outer part. I decided to stop cooking beef for a while.

A few days ago, when I was at Giant Hypermarket located at Harborfront, I noticed the air-flown chilled beef and pork at Giant looked fresh. In fact, so did the fish in the ice trays, fresher than at Sheng Shiong's - not comparing with the live fishes at SS, of course. I decided to trust the 'Fresh, chilled, air-flown' labelling of Giant. I bought a fresh pack that was labelled 'Fresh, Stir Fry' for S$6.15, S$0.294kg, @S$20.90/kg.

Back home, I cut and sliced half of the beef while it was still frozen, watched Gordon Ramsay's vid again, and followed his steps. And the beef turned out nice! It was tender, and palatable! Even my son said he will eat it again! And that's saying a lot.

Ingredient:
Aust Chilled Beef, fresh, exclusively at Giant Hypermarket, Haborfront; Stir Fry
2 Tbl peanut oil (neutral flavor)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbl groundnut oil (used vegetable-palm oil)
1 garlic clove, crushed
Grated ginger, sparingly swipe with a grater (omitted)
Fresh Spring onion, chopped into 1" lengths
Fresh Coriander, 1 stalk, chopped into 1" lengths
Few dashes White pepper
3/4 tsp Light soya sauce
Lightly Salt (omitted)

Steps
Slice beef chunk with the grain, that way it'll keep the texture of the beef and you get whole lovely slices. Then slice again into thinner slices.

Turn heat on, add 2 Tbl peanut oil in the wok. When the wok begins to smoke put in beef slices and immediately push to one side of wok near you, away from the bottom to avoid the liquid that may drip into wok. That will ensure the beef will not 'boil'. Use a 'push-pull' sweeping motion with your hand holding the wok to stir-fry the beef. Refer to the video.

Stir-fry for 30 sec or more;  eye-ball that the beef is not over-cooked.

Add spring onion and fresh coriander and stir-fry. Remove after a few seconds and plate.

Serve with freshly steamed Jasmine rice.

Verdict: Ethan said he would not mind having beef cooked the same way again! I also find the beef tender and palatable! Nice!