The iDealwine team is full of accomplished cooks and lunchtime is a feast for the eyes, seeing the delicious meals everyone has prepared. The other week, Alexandre brought in home-made pasta that he served with basil pesto. Today, Elsa, the Head of Marketing for France, is sharing a recipe with us and taking us on a gastronomic journey to China through its delicious flavours.
This adaption of this ancient Chinese recipe is a delight for the senses and does not take long to prepare – perfect for a weekday evening when there isn’t much time to get everything done before bed. Elsa’s beef and pepper stir fry is served with noodles and vegetables to keep it balanced and healthy.
Ingredients
For 4 people:
350g noodles
250g beef (rumpsteak, faux filet, entrecôte)
1 red pepper
5 leaves of Chinese cabbage (or 2 pak choi)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small piece of ginger, minced
4 table spoons of sweet soy sauce
3 table spoons of nuoc mam sauce
1 table spoon of chili paste (or 2 pinches of chili powder)
1 pinch of Chinese five spice
Freshly ground pepper (preferably Sichuan)
A handful of crushed peanuts
Coriander leaves
Method
Bring a pan of water to the boil for the noodles. Chop all of your ingredients: the beef into thin slices, the pepper into strips, and the Chinese cabbage into small pieces. Crush the garlic and ginger. Cook your noodles and remove them from the pan when they are still al dente (they will continue to cook when you stir fry them). Refer to the cooking time on the packet, generally 3-4 minutes.
Heat a little oil in a wok and sauté the vegetables for 2-3 minutes with the garlic and ginger. Add the meat and let it brown for a few minutes before adding the sauces (soy and nuoc mam), and the spices. Leave to reduce for 30 seconds. Add the noodles and sauté everything together. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Serve the noodles in shallow bowls, sprinkle with crushed peanuts, coriander and Sichuan pepper. And there you have it!
The good thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever vegetables you have to hand depending on the season (carots, white cabbage, and leek work well).
Wine pairings
As you probably know, it can be difficult to find the right wine pairing for Asian cuisine!
This particular dish is spicy and slightly sweet-and-salty. We would therefore recommend southern red wines that are relatively powerful, have a spiced profile and offer good warmth. Look to appellations such as Bandol, Languedoc-Roussillon, Rhône (especially the southern Rhône) and even Corsican wines, such as Patrimonio. The most important thing is to find a wine that has good length and presence, to counterbalance the strength of the soy and nuoc mam sauces. The tannins in a red wine will pair well with the rare meat. Our top three wines for this dish would be: a Bandol from Domaine Tempier, a Terrasses-du-Larzac from Domaine Montcalmès or a Patrimonio from Domaine Arena.
Bon appétit!
