A delicious Malaysian-style pineapple beef stir-fry recipe
Hello everyone! As promised, we’re back once again with a recipe from Malaysian cuisine. I admit that this isn’t necessarily a great classic, but simply a basic Malaysian stir-fry using, among other things, plum sauce which is often found in this cuisine.
I haven’t found a specific origin for this dish or anything, no great diaspora story like for the Malaysian fried pork recipe or the ginger and spring onion beef stir-fry. But well, that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious… Just less storytelling.
So what can you expect from this pineapple beef stir-fry? A quick and effective dish with beautiful sweet and sour flavors. No more, no less.
Tips for successful Malaysian pineapple beef stir-fry
The marinade
The longer you marinate, the better it is! You can get away with 5 minutes of marinating time, but I strongly advise preparing in advance to maximize the flavors. As with beef with onions, it plays an essential role
The temperature
Control the temperature of your wok or pan well, noting that if you’re making a large quantity, you may need to cook the different elements in batches. We want stir-fry, not boiled food, and if you lower the temperature too much, the ingredients will release too much water at once
The main ingredients of pineapple beef stir-fry
The beef: Star of the dish, choose a well-marbled cut for quick cooking. Unless you tenderize it with baking soda
Plum sauce: Plum sauce is made of plum puree or extract, sugar, and spices. It’s more acidic than hoisin sauce and is often used as a dip or glaze for meats in Malaysian cuisine. You can easily find it in Asian supermarkets
Pineapple: ideally fresh, you can use canned pineapple in a pinch but be sure to choose one that’s low in sugar. Cut it into fairly even cubes
Oyster sauce: a classic in Asian cuisine, it doesn’t taste like oysters but greatly contributes to the flavors of the dish
Shaoxing wine: essential for Chinese-inspired Asian cuisine, this rice wine can be replaced with dry sherry in a pinch
Sesame oil: adds a slight nutty touch to the dish
Pineapple Beef Stir-Fry
Matériel
Ingredients
- 400 g beef very thinly sliced
Marinade
- 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 0.5 teaspoon white pepper
- 0.5 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Stir-fry
- 4 pods garlic minced
- 1 6 mm piece of ginger peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons of Sichuan chili bean paste doubanjiang
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 tablespoon of plum sauce
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 0.25 teaspoon salt
- 280 g of pineapple diced
- Leaves cilantro for garnish
Side dishes
- Cooked rice
Procédé
- Mix the beef with marinade400 g beef, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 0.5 teaspoon white pepper, 0.5 teaspoon sesame oil, 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine, 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Marinate for 30 minutes.
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat with a little oil and stir-fry the marinated beef for 1 minute.
- Set aside.
- In the same wok over medium-high heat, add the garlic, ginger, and bean paste.4 pods garlic, 1 6 mm piece of ginger, 2 tablespoons of Sichuan chili bean paste
- Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes
- Add the diced bell pepper and stir-fry until slightly softened, about a few minutes.1 red bell pepper
- Add the beef back to the pan, then the plum sauce, salt, sugar, and diced pineapple.1 tablespoon of plum sauce, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 0.25 teaspoon salt, 280 g of pineapple
- Mix well and cook until everything is hot.
- Serve over rice, garnishing with cilantro leavesCooked rice, Leaves cilantro
