Recipe - Asparagus And Beef With Black Beans

1 tablespoon Salted preserved black beans
2 Garlic cloves; minced
2 sl Ginger (quartersized)
minced
One half pound Flank steak
1 small Onion; cut or sliced up
1 pound Asparagus; cut into 1/2in
thick diagonal pieces
3 tablespoon Peanut oil
One half teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Dark soy sauce
One half cup Chicken stock
2 teaspoon Cornstarch; mixed with
1 tablespoon Water
One half teaspoon Sugar
One half tablespoon Oyster sauce
1 ds Sesame oil
Hot steamed rice

BEEF MARINADE
One half teaspoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Rice wine or dry sherry
One half tablespoon Soy sauce
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
One half teaspoon Sesame oil

COVER THE BLACK BEANS with warm water for 5 minutes. Drain. Rinse
thoroughly to remove salt. Put into a bowl with the garlic and ginger; mash
into a paste and set aside. Slice the beef against the grain into 1/4inch
thick slices; toss with the beef marinade. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Preheat a wok until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Over high heat, add
beef and stirfry for a minute or until seared; remove and set aside. While
wok is hot, add remaining oil, salt and reserved blackbean paste; stirfry
until fragrant, a few seconds. Toss in the onions, stirfry for 10 seconds,
then add the asparagus in 2or3 batches, seconds apart, making certain the
wok is hot before adding the next batch. Toss and stir until asparagus are
coated with the oil. Sprinkle with soy sauce, toss together, then pour in
the stock and bring to a boil. If the asparagus needs more cooking, cover
for a minute. Meanwhile, stir the cornstarch, water, sugar and oyster sauce
into a smooth paste. When the asparagus is tender but still crisp, add the
cornstarch liquid into the center of the wok. Immediately stir until
thickened, about 10 seconds. Return the beef, add a desh of sesame oil;
toss to mix. Serve hot over rice.

JOYCE JUE PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini