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Don't burn the cashews.

Got the wok out the other night to cook some steak in oyster sauce with cashews and vegetables. (When people cook Chinese food at home, why do they call it a stir-fry? Have you ever seen someone walk into a Chinese restaurant and say "I'll have the stir-fry, thanks waiter"?)

Some time ago, when I asked a local butcher what he recommends for kebabs, he nominated skirt steak, adding it was also ideal for wok cooking. (Here, skirt is still is a far less expensive cut than some others cuts frequently used for home cooking of this kind. Skirt is either the middle or rear flank, depending on the region.)

First, I soy-marinated about half a kilo (one pound) of the skirt steak, cut into strips, for a few hours, tossing a small handful of sesame seeds into the mix.

Fire up the wok. It needs to be on a high heat. Toss in some oil, garlic and grated or finely cut ginger. You're supposed to use peanut oil, but I didn't have any.

I did all that and then tossed in a handful of cashews to 'brown'. I got sidetracked and they didn't brown, they 'blacked'. I picked out the worst burnt ones and left the rest in. Sometimes, I just don't care.

All right. In goes the meat. Toss it furiously round and round and up and down like Chinese chefs do. (I can never get that really loud hissing noise going, probably because their heat source is probably like about 1000 degrees or something.) In rapid succession, in go the onions, sliced red pepper, sliced broccoli stalks (the inner section, which cooks up beautifully). Then the broccoli florets, a glug of oyster sauce, a dash of soy and finally the snow peas. Toss it round some more and when everything's crisp but still slightly crunchy it should be ready. You may need to lid the wok and let it 'steam' for a while if it's not cooking through simply by tossing.

Meanwhile, cook your rice or noodles. I also made an easy entree (appetiser) of Lup Cheung (that slightly sweetish Chinese sausage made from pork and duck liver) by steaming it then serving it with sliced spring onion, soy and chili. Delicious.

The steak in oyster sauce with cashews and vegetables - okay, the stir-fry, I give in - was fine as well, despite the cashews.



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