Black Pepper Steak

If you've ever wondered how to achieve that soft, tender meat that you get from your local Chinese restaurant at home, then wonder no more. The Chinese method of tenderising meat is to marinate thinly sliced meat for a couple of hours and to use ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) for each 500g of meat. I've used fillet steak for the following recipe, however you can use a cheaper cut of meat when using this form of marinating since it will tenderise the meat so much, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference! Great tip for home cooks especially when watching the budget :)

Ingredients

750g beef eye fillet (in one piece)
1-2 onions, sliced
½ teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine (Shao Hsing wine)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
½ tsp baking soda
1-2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns, crushed
1-2 shallots, sliced

Method

1. Partly freeze steak, cut into thin slices. 
2. Combine steak, onions, sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, sugar, ginger, soy sauce and baking soda in bowl. Cover, marinate several hours or refrigerate overnight.
3. Stir peppercorns through steak mixture.
4. Barbecue steak and onions over high heat (or stir fry in wok) until steak is cooked as desired.
5. Sprinkle shallots over beef. Serve with rice