Chinese take-out at home or Fire wok with me

By Kady Guyton
October 6, 2008

Flank steak stir fried with Chinese oyster sauce. Click for larger image.

I attended a party this weekend where I got to field several "dumb cooking questions" (they weren't). One person wanted to know what the tasty brown sauce was at Chinese restaurants.

Good question. The answer: It depends.

Chinese cuisine is divided up according to geographical regions. Each one has its own distinct flavors and sauces, but the food of northern - or Mandarin - China tends to be closest to what most Americans know as "Chinese food".

Northern cuisine uses lots of beef, lamb and chicken, heavier sauces and frying techniques. Some food anthropologists believe that wok cooking was developed by the Mongolians of northern China. The wok cooks food quickly using small amounts of fuel - perfect for nomadic people.

Stir fry cooking has a well-deserved reputation for being a healthy way to eat. It also has a reputation for, as a chef friend of mine puts it, an hour and a half of chopping for ten minutes of cooking. Since everything cooks so quickly, the slicing and dicing needs to be done before the pan touches heat.

There are many different kinds of pre-chopped vegetables available at the grocery store today - some even come with sauce. But since part of the point of cooking at home is to have custom food, try to get your vegetables whole and dice them up yourself. The key is to get everything more or less the same size. One and a half to two inches is ideal.

If there is no wok in your kitchen, do not despair. A large frying pan will work fine; the key is to not overcrowd the pan. Too much food in a too-small pan results in steaming - not frying. Working in batches in permissible.

A note on cornstarch slurries: Slurries are used to thicken sauces and give them a velvety texture. When adding, stir in small amounts before adding more. Too much cornstarch will thicken the sauce to the consistency of wall paper paste. More can always be added in; the reverse is rarely true.

Cornstarch is also used as a meat tenderizer. Be cautious about adding too much, the flavor can come through in the final dish.

The recipe given below uses oyster sauce, which is a classic Mandarin variation on Chinese restaurant sauce. It can be scaled up easily and made in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. All ingredients were purchased locally.

Stir Fry with Oyster Sauce
This recipe is traditionally prepared with flank steak that's been sliced thin crosswise. It's equally good with chicken or pork.
1/2 pound meat of your choice sliced into thin strips.
2 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 beaten egg white
2 cups canola oil

Oyster Sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup rice or dry white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Two cups fresh chopped vegetables of your choice (Broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas, etc.)

Cornstarch slurry - 1 tablespoon water mixed into 1 tablespoon cornstarch.

1. Mix the meat slices with the first three ingredients and then the egg white. Set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

3. Heat pan and add oil. Bring to medium hot and add the meat. Quickly cook until about half done, remove from oil and set aside. It will keep cooking even off the heat.

4. Remove all but 2 tablespoons of oil. Reheat and stir fry the vegetables for one minute. Add the sauce mixture and stir to coat, bringing to a boil.

5. Add enough of the slurry to thicken the sauce.

6. Add back the meat, stir to coat. Serve with steamed rice and hot jasmine tea.