葱爆牛肉 Frangrant Beef And Leek Stir-fry

I love the flavor of this dish, pouring the oil that fried the ginger, garlic and leeks into the marinaded beef before it is cooked really enhances the flavors. My first trial run, where the beef was fried first, was not near as flavorful. This dish can also be done with lamb instead of beef.

Either leek or scallions can be used in this dish and both turn out delicious. I particularly love the flavor of leek. The methods I choose to include in this recipe cause the leeks to get toasted a nice rich golden brown and then soak up delicious juices from the marinated beef, the flavor is out of this world. Not to mention the beef is so tender and bursting with flavor. If I had to choose a favorite beef dish from this blog, this would be it.

The methods for cooking this dish differ slightly when using scallion instead of leek so I am providing you with a link to a video which shows this dish being made with scallion. You can access the video by clicking here. If you start the video at 5 minutes in you will be right at the part where he starts cooking the scallions. Notice he cooks the white part of the scallion first and then adds the green parts.

1 lb tender beef
2 leeks or 4-5 scallions
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1 Tbsp. minced ginger

marinade:
1.5 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cooking wine

sauce:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp beef stock

sesame oil

Choose leek that are thin and have a long white portion. This is the best I was able to find in our stores here in Canada. The leeks in china had really long white sections, I miss those! Cut the white part on an angle like shown in the photo. Chose a really sharp knife that can cut clean through.

 Take a few of the green sections from the top (I like to choose them from the inner sections as they are more tender) and cut them into thin strips.

Tenderize beef and cut very thinly against the grain. Mix marinade ingredients and let beef marinate for 1-2 hours.

Heat 1/4 cup of oil over medium high heat and lay the white part out flat trying to not over lap as much as possible. allow to cook a few seconds then start moving the pan in a swirling motion so the leeks move around as they fry but do not flip.

Cook 30-60 seconds or until the bottoms are golden brown. Toss the pan so they flip over, add in the garlic and ginger and fry a few more seconds.

Pour the oil that fried the leeks into the beef that has been marinating, remove leek, garlic and ginger and set aside. Mix the oil into the beef along with 2 Tbsp cornstarch and mix well.

Heat wok over high heat and add 1 Tbsp. oil. Add beef  and stir until beef pieces are separated then add in the stripes of leek.

Cook until beef is cooked through and leek has softened.

Add garlic, ginger and leek back into the wok along with the sauce ingredients. Drizzle a little sesame oil and toss to combine.

 Remove to a serving plate and serve with rice.

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