Cantonese Beef & Tomatoes
Tomatoes are uncommon in traditional Chinese cooking, and this is a 20th Century creation, originating in the Canton provinces of China as a summer dish when tomatoes are plentiful, often served cold with noodles.
The tomato is not a typical ingredient that you find in Chinese food and I rarely see a dish like this on a typical Chinese restaurant menu. Known as Xīhóngshì in Mandarin, tomatoes became widely popular in southern China after being introduced during the 17th to 19th Centuries through trade with the West, and they thrived in the subtropical climate, especially in areas like Canton. Such regions tend to have hot summers, and cold dishes are often favored to help cool the body and provide relief from the heat.
The Step-By-Step Chinese Cookbook, 1973
This recipe came from a Chinese cookbook that was given to me, along with many others, by a family friend, Betsy Kelley, who was widowed and retired. The cookbook is called the Step-By-Step Chinese Cookbook, published in 1973 by Georges Spunt. Unlike the innovative Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook, or the highly stylized cookbooks of today, recipe books of that era like this one are only marginally illustrated and have no photography in them, and in fact, Spunt was probably a better cook than he was a writer.
When I received this cookbook from Mrs. Kelley, she clearly thought this recipe was a winner, too, because it had been bookmarked. There are a couple of soy sauce stains on the pages where this recipe is printed, but I’m not entirely sure if those were Mrs. Kelley’s or mine.
Spunt was such a poor writer that he created one, insufferably long paragraph providing instructions in how to prepare this dish. It was extremely difficult to take a step at the wok and then find your place back in the paragraph in enough time without overcooking or burning food in the wok. This was so much the case that in the beginning, My Number One Fan would sit on the countertop next to the stove while I prepared this dish, reading each instruction to me in succession until the dish was made. The current methodology for writing cookbooks these days, not unlike the Kitchen Tapestry method, is to clearly delineate and enumerate each step, so that finding your place back to the recipe is an easier task. Spunt or his editor apparently hadn’t thought of putting cooking instructions in an actual step-by-step format, in spite of the book’s title, which I actually find quite amusing.
Cantonese Beef & Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb beef sirloin or fillet, cut in diagonal slices or strips, about 2" in length
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp of rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp light soy sauce (like Kikkoman Less Sodium)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 2-3 large slices fresh ginger root
- 1 small onion, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 small green pepper, cut into 1" pieces
- 3-4 large firm tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 1/2 cup beef stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
- 1/4 cup peanut oil
Instructions
- Place the beef slices in a Ziploc bag.
- Mix the cornstarch, salt, brown sugar and toss into the bag. Shake the bag to thoroughly coat the beef.
- Add the vinegar, sesame oil and soy sauce in a mixing bowl, whisk well to combine, then pour it into the Ziploc bag with the beef. Shake the bag again to coat all the beef and allow it to sit and marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Heat a wok until you see wisps of smoke, then add the peanut oil.
- Stir fry the beef until it loses its pink color, 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the beef with a slotted spoon or a wok skimmer to a platter.
- Add more peanut oil to the wok if needed, then add the ginger root. Stir fry 1 minute.
- Add the onions and green bell pepper; stir fry until the vegetable begin to pick up some color and a little char, 4-5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and stir fry 3 minutes until the tomatoes are slightly limp, but retaining their body.
- Return the meat to the wok, including any juices that have collected on the platter. Add the beef stock to the wok and stir to blend everything together. Allow the dish to simmer for 2-3 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens.
- Remove the ginger slices and serve immediately.
Notes
- Like any good wok chef, prepare all your ingredients ahead of time so they are at the ready and within arms reach before you begin, known in French cooking terminology as Mis en Place.
