Where's the Beef?

Fianco di Manzo allo Zenzero con Verdure Miste e Pasta di Grano Saraceno

Ginger Beef & Vegetables with Buckwheat Noodles

This evening, I would have had a very guilty conscience if I hadn't made good use of the left-over flank steak from yesterday evening- that just would not have been fitting! So what I did was to find a simple way to fit it into my plans- which were for noodles tonight... and voila!

It was the same with the sugar-snap peas, which were begging to be used up and finished off tonight. So I decided to pay my tributes to all and to see them off in style... Asian style!
It goes without saying that this is not a traditional or authentic dish... mine seldom are! But as with any other dish I make, this was easy, quick and simply tasty. I started off by boiling the noodles for 5 minutes and then setting them to one side so they would be ready to add to the other ingredients- as with most Asian dishes, timing is the key... but it's also not a big deal- if I can do it, you can too!

So, next, I finely chopped a piece of ginger that was about 1" long into strips and started them frying in some peanut oil. Peanut oil is great, because it has a relatively neutral flavor but you can get it really hot without it starting to get smokey. Once it started sizzling, I added the beef, which I had cut into bite-size pieces. I then quickly chopped a small carrot and a handful of sugar-snap peas, along with 1 stark of celery and a small, hot red pepper. After the meat had fried for 3-4 minutes, I added the vegetables, a teaspoonful of 5 spice powder and a good splash of soy sauce. I added a star anis and half teaspoon of cinnamon and added the noodles, so that they could continue and indeed finish cooking together with all of the other ingredients.

I made sure to not drain the noodles too well, so that they brought enough "broth" with them to deglaze the pan and to integrate all of the good flavors together nicely. I then added a splash of sesame oil and a good sprinkle of ground chili. Next came a couple of Spring onions, the juice of 1 lime and a splash of oyster sauce... and before I know what was happening- dinner was served!

And dinner was good!!!