Stir-fried beef with hand-torn cabbage on rice
Hand-torn cabbage flash-fried until sweet and lightly charred at the edges, tossed with tender beef and carrot — simple home cooking with few ingredients, served with rice.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Sensitive types react easily, with sneezing or itchy skin when the seasons turn, and Bailu's big swing between day and night often sets them off. Beef strengthens the spleen and builds qi and blood, while cabbage and carrot settle the stomach; in Chinese medicine a strong spleen supports the lungs. With no seafood or nuts and few ingredients, it's a reassuring everyday lunch.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Slice the beef thinly against the grain and mix with 1 tsp of the soy sauce and the cornflour; leave for 10 minutes. Tear the cabbage into large pieces by hand and slice the carrot.
- 2Heat 1 tbsp oil and stir-fry the beef over a high heat until about 70 per cent cooked, then lift out.
- 3Add the remaining oil, fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant, then stir-fry the cabbage and carrot over a high heat for 3 minutes until lightly charred at the edges.
- 4Splash the vinegar around the side of the wok, add the remaining soy sauce and the sugar, return the beef, toss and serve with rice.
Cautions
- This recipe avoids seafood and nuts; if beef or soy sauce (which contains soy and wheat) disagrees with you, use chicken and season with salt.
Chef's tips
- Torn cabbage holds the sauce better than cut; get the wok very hot and don't overcrowd it, so the cabbage chars rather than stews.
The TCM view
Cabbage is sweet and neutral, entering the spleen and stomach, strengthening the spleen and benefiting the organs. Beef is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and stomach and building qi, blood and sinew; carrot is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and benefiting the eyes; ginger warms and settles the stomach. Together they strengthen the spleen and boost qi in a gentle, balanced way.
