Quick & Simple Basil Beef Stir-Fry

mycookinghut July 15, 2013
basil-beef-stir-fry

It’s another week. Yes! Another hot summer week in London. I have to admit that London looks beautiful when it is sunny. The city seems to be brightened up by the sun and everything looks so much lively.

Quick and simple food seems to be of my preference as of late. Noticeably, I haven’t posted stir-fry recipe for quite a while. So, I quickly thought of sharing a quick delicious basil beef stir-fry. This dish is always our favourite. It’s easy and full of flavours. Since the star of the dish is beef, I make sure I fork out quite a bit for a nice piece of beef fillet, it is the best cut of beef for quick cooking. Thinly cut feather steak is a cheaper option that you could go for.

An extra big handful of basil is a must for this dish! Though, the star is beef but basil plays a very important role to give the overall flavours a lift!

The question of which type of basil to use is entirely up to you. If you could get Thai basil then excellent. If not, sweet basil will produce a less pungent dish. I like to add basil leaves at the very last minute once I remove the wok/pan from the heat so that they don’t wilt too much.  I tend to use a bit more garlic than what’s stated in the recipe. One reason, I love garlic and I think the fragrant of garlic goes so well with beef and basil. 🙂

Now, this dish can be done within minutes. So, it’s definitely a great mid-week recipe for y’all!

 

easy-basil-beef-stir-fry

Quick & Simple Basil Beef Stir-Fry

Yield: 2-3 persons

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sunflower oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into matchsticks
250g beef fillet, thinly sliced
50g basil leaves

Sauce:
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp cornflour
freshly grated black pepper

Method:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the sunflower oil in a frying pan or wok over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onion, fry until they start to fragrant and not brown. Then, add the red pepper, mix and cook for about 2 minutes or until start to soften. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Turn the heat to high, when it starts to smoke, add the sunflower oil. Then, add the sliced beef. Stir, toss and cook for about 2 minutes or until the beef start to be brown. Add the cooked vegetables, toss to mix and further cook for about 1 minute.

3. Mix all the sauce ingredients and 2 tbsp of water. Pour over the beef and vegetables. Toss to mix. Cook for about 1 minute or until the sauce warms up. Serve warm with boiled rice or noodles.