Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Cooking with Kylie: Stir-Fried Beef with Oyster Sauce

After having lackluster results with Kylie's recipes using the cooking sherry I'd purchased since I can't find shao hsing wine around here in the boonies, I consulted with Palidor of Crazy Asian Gal about what I could use in the sherry's place. She suggested saké. Today, with the last remaining few bucks in my food budget, I strode into the local well-used government-controlled liquor store and asked where the saké was located. The helpful clerk showed me and there was a selection of exactly one saké, priced at $10.80. I hesitated momentarily, because there was a bottle of sherry on the shelf next door for half the price, but it wasn't dry and I wasn't sure it would be suitable.

In the evening, I made Kylie's Stir-Fried Beef with Oyster Sauce.

Oh, what a difference! This dish really popped, and it was much more complexly flavoured than the previous two recipes I've made using the sherry in place of the shao hsing wine! It was simply delicious.

I'm really enjoying cooking from this book; the recipes are easy to put together, simple as the title suggests, and the dishes aren't bogged down with heavy sauces like the food found in Western Chinese restaurants.

Another winner from Kylie! And now that I have the saké, I feel like going back & making the previous two dishes to see what they taste like. All in good time!

13 comments:

Heather S-G said...

Amazing what a difference one ingredient can make! And I'm almost ashamed to admit that I've never even has sake. Can you believe that? Never really had the opportunity. Sounds tasty!

Palidor said...

Phew, I'm glad it turned out tasty! I would have felt terrible if the sake made the dish taste worse. Glad you found a good substitute.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love oyster sauce! that dish looks delicious!

Cheers,

Rosa

Donna-FFW said...

It sounds delish! Great advice on trying to change that one ingredient. Happy that it worked out beautifully!

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

Aren't bloggers great

Cathy said...

And you can drink the sake :) I think I may need to buy this cookbook....

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Mmmmmmmmm, Kylie.

Bob said...

I'll have to try sake the next time I do stir fry, I've never used it before. It looks great!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the sake tip. Most certainly will give it a try next time I stir fry.

NKP said...

So glad it turned out so well! I am looking forward to hearing how her other recipes fare.
I miss Kylie, hopefully they bring her back to FN.ca. I liked that Food Safari one too - the Aussies had some good shows.

Chris said...

I love the complexity that oyster sauce adds to any stir fry. I've never used sake in cooking but I like the idea!

Reeni said...

This looks delicious! I'm glad you found something that worked!

Unknown said...

I'm glad the sake worked for you! It looks amazing!

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