Beef and Cabbage

I have made this stir-fried dish for many years. It is one of my oldest son's favorites, and since today is his 28th birthday, I decided it would be the perfect choice for today's blog. I got this recipe from my good friend, Annette, a third generation Panamanian who grandparents came from China to work on the Panama Canal. I had tried making stirfried dishes before I met her, and was surprised at how few ingredients hers took. It is quick and easy, though for the best results you should marinate the meat for several hours at least. She usually does hers overnight.

Start with a pound and a half of beef. The cut isn't as important, because the marinade will tenderize it.

Slice the meat as thin as you can, because the marinade will penetrate better and cook easier. To make super thin slicing easier, put the meat in the freezer to stiffen, then slice it. After slicing, add the marinade, which is

2 Tablespoons onion powder
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sugar

Mix these ingredients into the bowl with the meat, cover, and place in fridge to marinate for a minimum of 3-4 hours for best results. You could cook it immediately after mixing in the ingredients, but it won't penetrate the meat nearly as well.

When you're actually ready to cook, chop one whole head of green cabbage. The shape of the cabbage pieces isn't as important, as long as they are fairly uniform in size and you separate the layers somewhat before stirfrying to make sure they cook evenly.

Now that you're ready to cook, add 1/4 cup of oil to your pan and heat it to a high temperature. You don't want to set off the smoke alarm, but you also don't want to dump cold ingredients into cold oil. The stove should be at a consistently high heat. Start by cooking the meat in the pan. If there is any residual marinade in the bowl, pour that in with the meat as well, stirring at high heat until meat is thoroughly cooked and some edges look slightly browned.

The next step is the only one where my method of cooking differs from Annette's. When she cooks it, she takes the meat from the pan, stirfries the cabbage in the same oil, then adds the meat back into the pan. The biggest difference is likely more control over the amount of cooking to your cabbage, because, being a stirfry, you really don't want to completely cook down your cabbage. It should still be somewhat crisp when bitten. However, because I tend to be in a hurry most of the time, I just add the cabbage directly into the pan with the meat. I still get the crunchy, lightly cooked cabbage if I stir it frequently while cooking and not leave it sitting on the stove.

When the cabbage is cooked, it is ready to serve. The marinade usually makes enough sauce to cover both the meat and cabbage, but if it looks a little drier than you like, add a tablespoon more of oyster or soy sauce. Serve it with rice. Simple and delicious. Another good thing about this recipe is that you can vary it. Annette has made this same dish with chicken or pork, and you could add extra or different vegetables to make a beef with peppers and onions. I have also added Sriracha to make a spicier version. Tonight's version however, is the original, authentic Chinese home cooking that Annette first taught me.

The amounts listed for this dish will serve four or five hungry people. I always make this amount for the three of us, because then I get to pack up the leftovers for work lunches!