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Thursday, November 27, 2008

Steamed Beef & Waterchestnut Patty

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Steamed beef patty on white rice

As a school girl, I loved coming home to find this dish on the table. Mom would cook this and beef liver with ginger and rice wine for those times of the month when she felt we needed some iron boost. This is a very humble home dish that only seems to be available in my family. I've asked friends when I was growing up and none of them knew this dish. I think the dish originated in Quilin, China where mom had studied, so most people here are not familiar with it as most KK Chinese are Hakka or Cantonese from Guangdong. Everybody has eaten a similar steamed meat patty of ground pork and eggs, one of the most homey Chinese dishes. These are dishes you don't find in restaurants but are eaten regularly at home.

It is best to use unfrozen tenderloin or sirloin, and the waterchestnuts must be fresh, not canned. Eat it with rice or congee. The flavor of the beef and the crunchy sweetness of the waterchestnuts, plus the ginger and doong choy goes very well with rice.

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Steamed Beef & Waterchestnut Patty
400 g (or more*) lean tender beef
400 g (or more*) waterchestnuts
1/2 T ginger, cut into very fine strips
1 T doong choy (a preserved veg), washed well
1 egg, beaten
1 T cornstarch
2 t sesame oil
a shake of white pepper
2 t light soy sauce
1 t dark soy sauce
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup water
finely cut spring onions for garnish

* You can adjust these amounts to your liking

1. Chop the beef until fine. Do not use supermarket bought mince; too much fat.

2. Peel the waterchestnuts and chop them coarsely.

3. Put the beef, waterchestnuts, cornstarch, sesame oil, soy sauces, salt, pepper, egg and water into a shallow heat-proof dish and mix well (use fingers). Pat the patty until it is level. Drizzle about 2 T water all over the patty. Sprinkle the doong choy and ginger strips on top.

4. Steam at high heat for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the patty. It should be about 1"/2.5 cm thick only.

5. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot. Optional: heat up a tablespoon of peanut oil until smoking and pour over the cooked patty. This will give extra flavor.

10 comments:

  1. Yumzzz..this would be similar to those steamed beef ball served at dim sum restaurant right? I remember they put in worchester sauce too. Or was it HP?

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  2. I love the pork version with the "dong choy" - always appetizing! I enjoy reading your blog and for that I have a surprise for you at my blog - please check me out there...

    http://pureglutton.blogspot.com/2008/11/omg-awards.html

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  3. this was yummy!

    i'm typing this at na's. she just made the pork version tonight, but she didn't put in duck egg yolks which i like :(

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  4. Thank you for the birthday wish. Imagine my surprise when I logged on your blog and that was the first thing I saw!! love you and send my love to the rest of the family. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  5. Yummy!!!Remind me when I was a little girl waiting for my mummy to finish cooking this dish.Love the pork version.

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  6. pp: no not quite the same, ivy. this is not bouncy n has no dried mandarin peel. good for those times when we ladies need extra iron u know. waterchestnuts also supposed to clean our blood.

    pureglutton: yes, the pork mince patty is no-fail family pleaser. aw, another tag..!it's tit for tat bc i've tagged u too haha

    yi: she once made this ridiculous steamed pork patty dotted with 20 egg yolks n goonggoong gave her hell for it. it looked like a cherry cake.

    daisy:ha, lucky u did check my blog bc i wanted to see how long b4 u log in. had a great bday i bet. write me!!

    johanna: yes, it's comfort food for us isn't it.
    hey, checked ur blog. love the wedding pics. r u related to ps jerry dusing??


    yi:

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  7. Yes,I'm related to U.Jerry,he is my dad's older brother.Please keep visiting our blog and thanks for the comment.

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  8. I like the looks of all your steamed meat patties dishes. My grandma used to make em when I was growing up in Malaysia. Keep up the good work.

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  9. These recipes are looking so much tasty!! i will try it out !!

    nutrition data

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