SonicChicken blog

This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. It’s my adaptation of Martin Yan’s recipe from A Wok For All Seasons, currently out of print. My copy of this book is falling apart, and I have modified Martin’s recipe quite a bit. If you like this, I highly recommend that you ferret out a copy of the book! It’s filled with excellent recipes and useful tips.

One of my Australian friends asked me to post this, so I’ve converted it to metric. (Archaic units included for the metric-challenged.) I’m not sure if all of these ingredients are readily available elsewhere. If you have trouble finding something or don’t recognize an ingredient, drop a comment and I’ll see if I can help find a substitute/explanation.

• Rice
• Marinade
• • 50 mL (3 T) soy sauce
• • 25 mL (1.5 T) Shao Hsing wine (or substitute dry sherry)
• • 15 mL (1 T) cornstarch
• • 15 mL (1 T) vegetable oil
• 0.5 kg (1 lb) beef sirloin or flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
• 0.5 kg (1 lb) medium-firm tofu
• Orange sauce
• • 180 mL (3/4 c, half a can) thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
• • 50 mL (3 T) sugar
• • 50 mL (3 T) soy sauce
• vegetable oil for the wok
• 1 can (appx 500 g or 18 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
• 1 can (appx 300 g or 11 oz) mandarin orange segments, drained
• 5-10 thin slices of fresh ginger, peeled
• 15 mL (1 T) cornstarch mixed with 30 mL (2 T) cold water

Preparation

1. Start a pot of rice.
2. Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add beef and stir to coat, marinate for ~30 min.
3. Rinse the block of tofu, and cut it into medium (20 mm or 3/4″) cubes. Place the cubes in a colander to drain.
4. Combine sauce ingredients in a measuring cup and set aside.
5. Drain the canned fruit. (I usually rinse the orange segments in the can; otherwise, they can taste a bit “tinny”.)
6. Drain any excess marinade from the beef.
7. Slice the ginger. (I do this right before cooking–the flavor fades quickly!)

Cooking

1. Place wok (or big frying pan) over high heat.
2. When the wok is hot (the edge inside is too hot to touch), add oil and swirl to coat sides of pan.
3. Add the ginger slices to the oil. Separate them with a spatula, if necessary. Cook for 5-10 seconds.
4. Add the beef and stir fry for a few minutes, until the beef is barely pink.
5. Add the tofu, pineapple chunks, and orange sauce. Stir and let cook for a moment. Meanwhile…
6. Measure the cornstarch into the cup you used for the orange sauce. Add cold water and stir to dissolve cornstarch. (Also gets the remnants of that yummy sauce!)
7. Add the orange slices and cornstarch solution to the wok. Stir and cook until the sauce boils and thickens.

Serve over the rice, which should be done right about now!

The ginger “coins” may be a bit much for some people, but they’re my favorite part of this dish.