Summer Solstice · Dinner · Yang Deficiency
Stir-fried beef with young ginger and long beans
Tender beef with long beans and zesty young ginger — a hot, warming wok dish for chilly air-conditioned days.
- 32 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
WarmingWarms & dispels coldBuilds digestion & qi
Why it suits you: Yang Deficiency means feeling the cold, and days in Summer Solstice air-conditioning bring cold hands and loose stools. Young ginger and onion warm the stomach, beef warms and builds digestion, and long beans support the spleen and kidneys — hot food instead of cold.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 12 min- 1Slice the beef thinly across the grain, mix with the soy sauce, sugar, cornflour and 1 tbsp water, then a little oil, and marinate for 15 minutes.
- 2Cut the long beans into 5 cm lengths and the onion into strips. Scrape and thinly slice the young ginger, toss with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes, then squeeze dry.
- 3Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok, add the beans with 3 tbsp water and stir-fry over medium heat for 5–6 minutes until deep green and fully tender, then lift out.
- 4Add the rest of the oil, fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant, stir-fry the beef on high heat until mostly browned, then toss in the onion and beans for 1–2 minutes. Taste and serve.
Cautions
- Cook the long beans until deep green and fully tender — undercooked beans can upset your stomach.
Chef's tips
- Young ginger is best from June to August: choose pink-tipped, thin-skinned knobs. If you can't find it, use half the amount of shredded mature ginger.
The TCM view
Young ginger is pungent and warm and dispels cold from the middle; beef is sweet and warm and builds qi and blood; onion is pungent and warm and moves qi; long beans are sweet and neutral and support the spleen and kidneys. Warming without drying — the 'eat ginger in summer' way to protect spleen yang when outside yang peaks.
