Nyonya sliced beef with preserved sweet radish

True Aussie beef and lamb can be enjoyed in different meat cuts and in a variety of cooking styles.

Here’s my take on the home-style sweet and salty dishnusually made with long beans and preserved radish, taken up a notch with Aussie beef.

Ingredients

200g True Aussie beef, sliced into strips

3 cloves garlic, chopped small

1/4 cup preserved sweet radish (choy poh)

1 large chili, 2 to 3 bird’s eye chili (you can add or lessen this ), cut small, with seeds removed as much as possible

1 teaspoon bean paste (taucho)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (thick)

1.5 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup of roasted peanuts for garnishing

Method

Marinate the beef lightly with a bit of salt and pepper, and set aside for 10 mins. Heat up some oil in a pan, then pan-fry the beef lightly on each side until it is just about cooked, but still ever so slightly red. You don’t want to overcook the beef as it will be tough. Remove from the pan and set this aside while you make the sauce.

To make the sauce, heat up a tablespoon of oil and add in the garlic and the choy poh. Give it a quick stir, then add in the bean paste, fry a few seconds till fragrant. Next, add in the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, stir a little, then add the chili, sugar and half the water. Then slowly add the rest of the water to thin the sauce if it’s too concentrated. You don’t want to pour everything in all at a go and end up with watery gravy.

When it’s simmering, toss the cooked beef back in, give everything a quick stir, and then turn off the fire.

Plate the beef and garnish with some peanuts, but feel free to skip this if you’re allergic or don’t like peanuts. You should get a nice mix of textures – a sweetish salty flavour from the preserved vegetable, a bit of a crunch from the peanuts, a good bite thanks to the beef, sweet and salty notes from the sauces, laced with a bit of spice to wake you up.

Happy cooking!