Fist of Kitchen presents… Eat it: China!

Recooking "The Art of Chinese Cooking" by The Benedictine Sisters of Peking, 1956 | Remixed by Fist of Kitchen 2013

book version

Beef with Mushrooms, Onions, & Ginger

牛肉 菇葱頭生薑
Ginger Monster takes the Mushroom Pasture

Were you surprised when you read “cannned mushrooms” in the ingredients? You should be—and of course we didn’t do that. We used a combination of dried shiitake and fresh oyster mushrooms. If you’re not a billygoat and don’t like the taste of metal, you won’t either. The reserved water from re-hydrating the shiitakes was added to the sauce in lieu of the can runoff. Because the mushrooms aren’t sauteed, slice them thinly so they’ll be finished off by carryover cooking heat. The original recipe also said that ground beef was OK—it’s not. We used thinly-sliced (2″ long x 1/2″ wide x 1/4″ thick) top sirloin.


  • 5 tbsp. oil
  • 3 c. onions
  • 1 lb. beef
  • 1 can mushrooms or 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
  • 2 tbsp. shredded ginger
  • 4 tbsp. soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 c. mushroom stock
The Hurdy Gurdy Mushroom
preparation

Cut the onions in quarters and slice, then sauté until tender. Remove onions and brown the beef in the same pan. Pat the beef dry on paper towels, and fry in two batches to ensure proper browning. Add the mushrooms, ginger and soy sauce and heat. Mix the cornstarch thoroughly into the mushroom stock and add to hot pan. Stir until thickened.


Surely tasty, but it could be better. Look to our upcoming slow-cooked chuck version, or peppery Szechuan grilled rib-eye if you want the beef flavor to be the star.

Beef with Mushrooms, onions and ginger

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