Vietnamese Style Pepper Beef And Spinach

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 6 -8 ounces beef or 6 -8 ounces buffalo rump roast
• 1 1/2 cups chopped sweet yellow onions
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce, divided (nuoc mam or nam pla)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves, cleaned and dried (about 4 cups worth; or "rau muong" instead of spinach)
• 3 ripe roma tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges
• hot cooked jasmine rice, for serving

Recipe

• 1 trim excess fat from meat and slice thinly (which is easier when meat is slightly frozen) against the grain.
• 2 in a large bowl, combine the chopped onion, sliced meat, 1/2 teaspoon of the black pepper, 2 teaspoons of the fish sauce, and the cornstarch; stir well to coat and set aside to marinate (the cornstarch tenderizes and makes the meat "velvety").
• 3 over high temperature, heat a large skillet or wok and - when the skillet is very hot - add the oil ("hot wok, cold oil, food won't stick"); add the marinated meat mixture and sauté until the meat is cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes.
• 4 remove cooked mixture from skillet and set aside.
• 5 heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pan and stir fry the minced garlic for 1 minute.
• 6 add spinach leaves and stir fry for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
• 7 add remaining 4 teaspoons fish sauce and tomato, and stir fry 2 minutes.
• 8 add the cooked meat mixture and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the skillet, combine well, and cook until heated through and sauce comes to desired consistency (the cornstarch will effect the consistency - you can add a bit of water, broth, or sherry if it becomes thicker than you'd like).
• 9 serve immediately with hot cooked jasmine rice.
• 10 note: i've been told that "the recipe is not exactly vietnamese, since we actually use minced lamb to stir fry water spinach; beef is always more expensive than lamb at home - the good cuts are often on their own, or cooked with minimal side ingredients; other cuts go into stews and soups" so feel free to try this with lamb, too!
• 11 also, when i first made this recipe i really wasn't expecting too much from it - it came out much tastier than i expected, an absolute keeper (especially according to my husband)!