Well, it’s finally here! The first meal at the new apartment, complete with dinner guests. This recipe is from Real Simple magazine. It combines some of my favorite things: sweet potatoes, stir-fry, garlic, and hoisin sauce. Hoisin sauce is the Asian version of ketchup (it goes on everything!). Prepare the sauce first, then the stir fry.

For wine, I served Gewurtztraminer, which is as hard to pronounce as it is to spell (ga-VERZ-tra-mee-ner). This wine is fruity and lush, with a semi-sweet to almost medium-sweet taste. It is well known as one of the few wines that compliment Asian cuisine, particularly spicy dishes. Fetzer from California produces a great variety with a reasonable price: about $7-$9 a bottle.

To complete the dish, I prepared Vigo’s Saffron Yellow Rice to serve with the stir-fry. While normally I reserve this for Mexican dishes, but the flavor also goes well with Asian cuisine.

Garlicky Hoisin Sauce
from Real Simple

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 green onions, white parts only, chopped (reserve green parts for stir-fry)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar

Heat a skillet or small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the scallions, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 1 1/2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

Garlicky Hoisin Beef
from Real Simple

2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 lb flank or boneless sirloin steak, thinly sliced
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup water
1/3 to 1/2 lb snow or sugar snap peas
3 scallions (green parts only, reserved from sauce), cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
1 recipe Garlicky Hoisin Sauce
cooked rice or noodles, for serving

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 2 tbsp oil and heat for 30 seconds. Add the steak, working in batches if needed, and stir-fry until cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium-high, add remaining oil, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits, and add the bell pepper and cook, stirring constantly for 10-15 seconds.

Add the sweet potato and water, cover partially and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are near tender. Add the peas and scallions, cook for 1 minute. Add the Garlicky Hoisin Sauce and increase the heat to high. When it starts to bubble, add steak back to the pan. Toss ingredients and heat until warmed through, about 1 minute. Serve immediately over rice or noodles.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 am and is filed under Beef, James' Favorites, Main Dishes, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.