Vietnamese Style Pepper Beef And Spinach - cooking recipe
Ingredients
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6 -8 ounces beef or 6 -8 ounces buffalo rump roast
1 1/2 cups chopped sweet yellow onions
1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons fish sauce, divided (nuoc mam or nam pla)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, cleaned and dried (about 4 cups worth; or \"rau muong\" instead of spinach)
3 ripe roma tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges
hot cooked jasmine rice, for serving
Preparation
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Trim excess fat from meat and slice thinly (which is easier when meat is slightly frozen) against the grain.
In a large bowl, combine the chopped onion, sliced meat, 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper, 2 teaspoons of the fish sauce, and the cornstarch; stir well to coat and set aside to marinate (the cornstarch tenderizes and makes the meat \"velvety\").
Over high temperature, heat a large skillet or wok and - when the skillet is very hot - add the oil (\"hot wok, cold oil, food won't stick\"); add the marinated meat mixture and saute until the meat is cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove cooked mixture from skillet and set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan and stir fry the minced garlic for 1 minute.
Add spinach leaves and stir fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add remaining 4 teaspoons fish sauce and tomato, and stir fry 2 minutes.
Add the cooked meat mixture and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the skillet, combine well, and cook until heated through and sauce comes to desired consistency (the cornstarch will effect the consistency - you can add a bit of water, broth, or sherry if it becomes thicker than you'd like).
Serve immediately with hot cooked jasmine rice.
Note: I've been told that \"the recipe is not exactly Vietnamese, since we actually use minced pork to stir fry water spinach; beef is always more expensive than pork at home - the good cuts are often on their own, or cooked with minimal side ingredients; other cuts go into stews and soups\" so feel free to try this with pork, too!
Also, when I first made this recipe I really wasn't expecting too much from it - it came out much tastier than I expected, an absolute keeper (especially according to my husband)!
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