Skip to main content
Main

Zhong Si Neu Niu

A Hong Kong-style steak dish cooked with tomato sauce and seasonings.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 20 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Tomato and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,099 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Zhong Si Neu Niu

Time30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the steak fillet into bite-sized pieces across the grain.

  2. Slightly press the pieces with a chopper, then marinate with seasoning (1) for 30 minutes.

  3. Remove the seeds from the tomato, shred it, and also shred the onion.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat a wok with 4 tablespoons of oil and fry the steak fillet over medium heat, dishing up when the fillets are almost cooked.

  2. Heat the wok again with 2 tablespoons of oil and stir-fry the onion.

  3. Add the shredded tomato, stir-fry well, and add the sauce.

  4. Add the steak while the sauce is boiling, stir-fry well, dish up and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1341Calories
76 gProtein
48 gFat
143 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 14 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Chicken100g cooked165
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Soy Sauce1 tbsp (15ml)9
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Waternot in our table0
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + corntop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,759 recipes

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

  5. Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Steak fillet
Provides the main protein; slicing across the grain keeps each bite tender.
Corn flour
Coats the meat and thickens the sauce, giving a glossy, clinging texture.
Tomato
Adds acidity and body to the sauce as it breaks down during frying.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it stir-fries, building the base flavour of the sauce.
Tomato ketchup
Adds sweetness, acidity and a deeper tomato flavour to the sauce.
Sugar
Balances the acidity of the tomato and ketchup with sweetness.

The step that matters

Dish up the steak before it is fully cooked. Meat keeps cooking from residual heat and in the hot sauce, so removing it while nearly done prevents it from turning tough and dry when it is returned to the boiling sauce.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, sauce, sugar, corn, flour, wine, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Okrafits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, sauce, sugar, corn, flour, wine, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesChicken BrothChicken Broth257 recipesCorn FrittersCorn Fritters203 recipesChicken SoupChicken Soup156 recipes