Thursday, November 17, 2011

Beef Stir-fry with Udon Noodles


I apologize for the brief hiatus.  These last two weeks have been so busy that we never found time to go grocery shopping.  Dinner has consisted of whatever food we could find at the back of our freezer. On my way home from the hospital yesterday I picked up some ground beef and a red pepper.  I had no plans, but managed to come up with something delicious!  I added the sesame seeds at the end as an afterthought, but this dish would not have been the same without them.  So whatever you do, don't leave out the sesame seeds!

What you'll need
1 cup Beef stock
1/3 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Rice vinegar
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tbsp Sesame oil
1/2 Yellow onion, chopped
1 lb Extra-lean ground beef
1 tbsp Fresh ginger, grated
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Red onion, sliced
2 Green onions, finely sliced
1 small bunch Fresh cilantro
400 grams Udon noodles
2 tbsp Sesame seeds, toasted

How to
1.  Heat the sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the yellow onion and cook for about 4 minutes until the   onion is soft.  Add the ground beef.  Stir up every couple minutes, making sure to break up the beef as you go.

2.  When the beef is nearly cooked through, add the garlic and ginger to the pan.  Stir and cook until beef is no longer pink.

3.  Meanwhile, combine the stock, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and cornstarch in a bowl and mix until combined.  Add to the pan, along with the red pepper.

4.  Cook for about 3 minutes.  If it's too thick, add some extra stock until the desired consistency is reached.

5.  Finely chop half of the cilantro leaves.  Add to the pan along with the green onion and udon noodles.  Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the pepper is soft and the noodles are heated through.

6.  Plate and top with the remainder of the cilantro leaves and the toasted sesame seeds.

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