Shaking Beef Salad with Pickled Red Onion

‘This dish requires your wok to be smoking hot. I would recommend leaving it on a high heat for at least 30–60 seconds before starting this stir-fry. Get that extractor fan on high, open all your windows and put away any laundry hanging in the kitchen – unless you want your clothes, too, to have a smoky finish.’ – Jeremy Pang, author of School of Wok

300g (101/2oz) rib-eye steak, cut into large dice

150g (51/2oz) heritage baby

tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved

100g (31/2oz) watercress, rinsed

2 baby cucumbers, sliced diagonally into wedges

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 spring onion, roughly chopped

2–3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

vegetable oil

handful of coriander and mint leaves, to garnish

PICKLED RED ONION

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

100g (31/2oz) radishes, finely sliced (optional)

6 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tablespoon sea salt

MARINADE

1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes

1/4 teaspoon cracked

black pepper

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon cornflour

SAUCE

11/2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1/2 tablespoon sugar

juice of 1/2 lime

1. For the pickled red onion, place the onion into a small bowl with the radishes, if using. Add the rest of the pickled onion ingredients to the bowl and give it a stir to dissolve the sugar and salt. Set aside for a minimum of 20 minutes.

2. Place the steak in a mixing bowl and massage the marinade ingredients into the meat, saving the cornflour until last. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a separate bowl.

3. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of the pickling liquid from the pickled red onion. Arrange the watercress over a serving plate and scatter the cucumber and tomatoes around.

4. Build Your Wok Clock: Start at 12 o’clock with the marinated beef, followed by the (unpickled) red onion, spring onion and garlic, and lastly the sauce.

5. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in your wok over a high heat until smoking hot. Swirl the oil around the wok a little and then add the marinated beef and sear for 1 minute on ea

ch side. Next add the sliced red onion to the wok and start to fold through. Add the spring onion and garlic and continue to stir-fry for 1–2 minutes, giving the wok a good shake every 20–30 seconds.

6. Now stop shaking the wok to allow the heat to build until smoking. Then quickly pour in the sauce and bring to a vigorous boil. Fold through once or twice to fully coat the beef and vegetables, then spoon onto the top of your salad. Garnish with the herbs and drained pickled red onion.

This recipe is an extract from School of Wok by Jeremy Pang