Ginger Beef

Ginger Beef
via Rogi's Giant Iron Wok

1 lb. lean beef, cut in thin strips across the grain
2 1/2 TBSP cornstarch
1 1/2 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 mushrooms thinly sliced
1 8 oz. can sliced bamboo shoots, drained
1 chunk ginger, size of a walnut, minced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 stalks green onion, cut in 1 inch pieces
3 TBSP oil
3/4 cup beef stock

Marinate the beef in 1 TBSP cornstarch, 1 TBSP sugar, soy sauce, 1/3 of the ginger, and the sherry (or water) for 15 minutes. Place in small bowl 1/2 tsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup beef broth, set aside. Heat wok over high heat. Add 1 TBSP oil to wok after it is very hot. Stir fry mushrooms and green onions until barely tender, about 1 minute. Add bamboo shoots, stir fry 1 minute. Add 1/2 tsp sugar, and 1/4 cup beef broth. Stir fry 1 minute. Remove from wok. Add 2 TBSP oil to wok and heat. Stir fry the ginger, garlic and beef 1 minute, or until barely browned. Add sauce mixture and stir until thickened. Add mushrooms, bamboo shoots and green onions. Serve with rice.

Notes: I've been meaning to try something out from Rogi's site for a while. The dishes always look so interesting. But often they have an ingredient or two that isn't easy for me to come by. The directions on his site didn't list an amount for the soy sauce so I made my best guess and have edited that in above, and left out the salt elsewhere in the recipe to compensate. Also, for my mushrooms I used shiitake. I might've tried oyster as well, but they weren't available. I think it came out pretty well, though it was a very beige dish and I might at some point in the future want to find a way to give it more color. Still, very tasty and I'm glad I gave it a shot.