Garlic beef, mushrooms and peppers

It seems that no matter the effort put into using a wok on a flat electric hotplate, it is outdone by the feeblest of efforts over a gas flame. (Admittedly my preferred wok has had a concavedly curved base for years, which didn't help matters.) To gas, and the deliciousness it can so easily bring about!

There was some beef remaining, and my stir frying seemed almost a half-forgotten skill. I remembered red pepper, and pulled out the rest of the still perfectly silken mushrooms. Garlic and oyster sauce, I thought, and then the rest sort of fell together.

Grapeseed oil

1 small onion, sliced into 1/16ths

2" piece red chilli, finely sliced

4 - 5 chestnut mushrooms, quartered

Half a red pepper, diced

1 piece of tender steak, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

Dozen or so chives, chopped

2 - 3 tsp oyster sauce

1 - 2 tsp shaosin rice wine

1 - 2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp cornflour made to a thin paste with cold water

Beni shoga (salty pickled ginger - the fluorescent red strands)

Jasmine rice

Rinse and drain the rice (repeating 'til clear.) Bring equal parts rice and water to the boil, then cover with a lid and set onto the lowest heat possible to cook and steam.

Heat up some grapeseed oil in the wok, and on medium-high heat stir fry onion until it colours to your liking. (2 - 3 mins gives a bit of char.)

Add chilli, blacken a bit before stirring in red pepper. Soften for 30 seconds or so, then add in the mushrooms. Cook for a minute.

Stir in the garlic for 10 seconds or so to heat it through, and then add the steak. Cook meat until it's taken on a little colour.

Splash in the rice wine, and let the alcohol evaporate. Turn the heat to medium-low and then add chives, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Stir through, then add a few teaspoons of the cornflour mixture to thicken. Ensure this is heated through to a simmer and that all ingredients are cooked to your liking.

Serve up a heap of steaming jasmine rice, pile on the beef, onion, mushroom and pepper, and top with a little beni shoga if you wish for it. Enjoy! And realise your sad fate - you'll never quite enjoy the local Chinese takeaway ever again.