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Beef in Oyster Sauce

Try Ken Hom's recipe for this Chinese takeaway classic, served with spicy salad.

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Why it works: Sauce and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,233 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook10 min

Ingredients

Contains: tree nuts, soy, shellfish, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Slice the beef thinly across the grain. Mix it with 1 tbsp light soy sauce, the sesame oil, the Shaoxing rice wine or sherry and 1 tsp of the cornflour. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  2. Cut the broccoli, French beans and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Cut the tomato into wedges. Slice the water chestnuts. Finely chop the shallots, spring onions and chives, keeping the chives separate.

  3. Boil the broccoli, French beans, cauliflower and peas in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain well.

  4. In a bowl, mix the oyster sauce, remaining 2 tbsp light soy sauce, Dijon mustard, curry powder, remaining 1 tsp cornflour, salt, pepper and a splash of water until smooth.

  5. Heat 2 tbsp of the groundnut oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the beef for 1 to 2 minutes until browned and cooked to 145°F (63°C). Remove and rest for 3 minutes.

  6. Heat the remaining groundnut oil. Stir-fry the shallots and water chestnuts for 1 minute, then add the tomato, drained vegetables and peas. Toss for 1 minute, adding 2 tbsp of the olive oil.

  7. Return the beef and any juices to the wok. Pour in the sauce and stir for 1 minute until glossy. Add the spring onions, chives and the remaining olive oil, then serve at once.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Sauce + oystertop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together2,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Sesame + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Beef + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Sesame + rice winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together244 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl pentanoate (yeast, fruit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sauce, sesame, rice wine, oyster, onion, pepper):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Potatobetter flavor fit
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sauce, sesame, rice wine, oyster, onion, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).