Stir-Fried Beef with Lemongrass and Garlic

I remember when I was a young girl with my mother, who was a good cook, I never thought about cooking. I thought that the kitchen was for my mother and that I should not go in there and touch everything that belonged to her. Every meal, my mom always reminded us how much love that she put into it and how proud she was cooking well with only a very small budget. When I worked in my family’s restaurant, I was the hostess in front of the restaurant; therefore, the kitchen was not my place. However, when I was working for the California Pizza Kitchen, I learned that the best way to get a promotion was to learn more about food preparation and started cooking. It was a big surprise to me that I learned something about myself – I am my mother’s daughter. I love to cook and love to prepare meals for people whom I love. Sometimes, I spend quite a lot of time in the kitchen to prepare some more sophisticated, more beautiful recipe, but most of the time I just want to prepare simple dishes. I think with the fast-moving society that a woman is facing now – fulfilling her role as a mother, being a successful businesswoman, and being a good spouse – she should always have a warm kitchen for her family to come home to after a long day. So, no matter how busy her life is, preparing a good, home-cooked meal by following a simple, nutritious recipe is a way to have a happy and healthy family.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. top sirloin, thinly sliced
Marinade:
2 tbs fresh lemongrass, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tbs sake or dry sherry
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
Vegetables:
2 cup jicama, julienned
1 cup white onions, thinly sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup lettuce
1 cup cucumbers
Daikon and carrot pickles (Vietnamese Do Chua)

Garnish with basil, cilantro, and rau ram
Scallion oil
Roasted sesame and peanuts
Vietnamese dipping sauce
1 lb. cooked rice noodles (follow cooking method on the front of the package)

Directions:
In a container with a lid, combine all the marinade ingredients. Add beef and marinate for a few hours or overnight.
To make scallion oil:
In a small sauté pan, add 2 tbs oil until hot. Slice 2 green onions and add into the hot oil with pinch of salt. Remove from heat.
In a medium sauté pan, heat until hot. Add 1 tbs oil and stir in white onions and jicama and cook for 3 minutes until the jicama is wilted, but still crunchy. Remove from the pan.

In the same pan, heat it up again and add the beef and cook the beef undisturbed to seer the beef. Cook beef for 5 minutes or until browned.

To serve:
In a serving bowl, divide the bean sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, white onions, and jicama. Top with noodles and beef. Add scallion oil, daikon-carrot pickles, and fresh herbs. Sprinkle with sesame and roasted peanuts. Serve with Vietnamese dipping sauce.