soft and soundless steps
they meet on a windless field
of floating flames
Until I started writing this recipe, I did not know what these were. I’ve used them before, oh, plenty of times. They’re great for stir-fries, easy to work with, and an easy, tasteless way to add some veggies to your dish.
Turns out, they’re not veggies. They’re fruits! Melons, in fact. I’d always had a sneaking suspicion they were related to melons (the green and the crisp and the seed gave it away), but I never really bothered to confirm it.
Chayote are apparently native to Costa Rica and a popular ingredient in Mexico, although I was introduced to them in a Chinese supermarket. Known as 佛手瓜 (Fu Shou Gua) to me, I’ve used them in stir-fries alongside the likes of chicken, soybeans, and firm marinated tofu. Since they’re related to cucumber, you can imagine that they soften easily, so you shouldn’t cook them too long if you want to retain their crisp character. They don’t have much flavour to them (less so than cucumber), and they’re fairly good at retaining water.
Anyway. Long story short. I’ve been meaning to make something with the rest of my beef chunks, which I had already slow-cooked with some salt, star anise, and dried chilli peppers. I also needed to make some “street food” for Blog Party #33, which I’ve been undecided about the entire week.
Suddenly, inspiration hit.
You know in some Chinese buns, they’ll have pulled pork or beef that’s heavily marinated? Well…
I decided to pull apart the beef chunks into “strings”, and stir-fry it with chayote and onion. The result was a great mish-mash of savoury pulled beef and soft chayote. The best part was that both components were moist (beef looses its moisture quite easily) and packed with flavour.
The street-food element is that it would be a great stuffing for a pita. In fact, it could easily be turned into a main with the addition of any number of carbs: steamed Chinese buns, white rice, or even something made from potato (polenta or mashed).
I’m trying to cut down my carb-intake though (I’ve grown up eating rice with every meal so believe me, this is a lot harder than it sounds), so I had to think of something else.
I also had to make this into an appetizer in order to qualify for the Blog Party. So…
Ta da!
I had been chewing on a stick of cucumber while I was debating (yes, I chew on sticks of cucumber), and realized that the cucumber tasted pretty good with the beef-chayote dish. So the end result was a cucumber-based appetizer with some beef, chayote, and onion. I topped it off with a small piece of red pepper to give it some colour.
The verdict: the makeover of the “street-food” beef and chayote stuffing into an elegant little appetizer is all sorts of genius. Cucumber and chayote naturally marry well since they’re members of the same family (which I did not know at the time! Hence, genius), but they also contrast each other since the chayote is soft and full of flavour, while the cucumber is on the outside, adding a fresh crisp to every bite. The beef is moist and well-marinated in typical Asian fashion, with an aroma of sesame decadence and a subtle spicy undertone. This is probably the healthiest street-food-turned-appetizer ever!
The name of this dish is another brand of genius in itself (thank you, thank you very much). Since cucumber and chayote are in the same family, they are “The Green Sisters.” The love feud is between them and the beef, whose passion is ignited by the spicy undertones and the red pepper topping, much like the tip of a flame.
We recommend that this appetizer be consumed with Amazake1, a low-alcohol Japanese drink made from fermented rice.
svgallery=beefchayote
Ingredients:
0.3 lb stewing beef
2 tsp salt
1 star anise
3 dried red chili peppers
1 chayote, cut into strands or thin slices
1/4 white or red onion, cut into strands or thin slices
1 cup beansprouts (optional)
0.5 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 thin slices of ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp 老干妈 (Lao Gan Ma) chili sauce2
To make the beef:
- Boil a pot of water. Add the beef stew cubes.
- Wait until the water boils again, then dump the water out and rinse the beef. Add water until it is 1in above the beef and return to stove.
- When the water is almost boiling again, add 2 tsp salt, star anise, and dried chili peppers. Wait for the water to boil, then turn the heat down to a medium-low setting.
- Cook for at least 30min or until beef is no longer hard.
- Remove from stove. Take out beef cubes and keep the liquid (will be used as stock later). Pull apart beef cubes with your hands. (If you’re good with a knife, you can also cut them, but make sure to cut them into tiny strands).
For the stir-fry:
- Heat the wok. Skim some oil from the top of the beef stock and add to wok. Add 1 cup of beef stock.
- Add beef, onions, ginger, half the soy sauce, and half the sugar.
- After mixing, add the chayote, the rest of the soy sauce, and the rest of the sugar. (Optional: You can add another tsp of salt here if needed. For an appetizer, I wouldn’t add the salt, but if you’re eating this as a main with plain rice or steamed buns, go ahead and the salt.)
- Lower the heat to medium and cook until chayote is soft. Make sure it doesn’t dry out when you’re cooking (add water or more beef stock if needed). The mixture should always be just immersed in liquid.
- Just before you’re done, turn the heat back up to high, add the sesame oil, and stir frequently. This will make the water evaporated faster and thicken the liquid.
If you’re serving this as a main, serve hot on a bed of white rice or alongside some plain steamed buns. It can also be lunch tomorrow if you heat it up and stuff it into a pita. If you’re serving it as an appetizer, put some on top of slices of cucumber and garnish with a small slice of red pepper.
From Wikipedia: “Amazake can be used as a dessert, snack, natural sweetening agent, baby food, salad dressing or smoothie. The traditional drink (prepared by combining amazake and water, heated to a simmer, and often topped with a pinch of finely grated ginger) was popular with street vendors, and it is still served at inns and teahouses. Many Shinto shrines provide or sell this in the New Year. In the 20th century, an instant version became available.
Amazake is believed to be very nutritious, with no additives, preservatives, added sugars or salts. Outside of Japan, it is often sold in health food shops.” [↩]
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I’m trying to remember if I ever cook chayote. But recently, I had a dish – chayote shoots, in a eatery. They look like leafy greens and stir fried just like leafy greens. I will post it!
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Oh mine … you certainly make cooking sounds scientific! Good stuff! I like the tiny appetizer dish. Very nicely decorated. And I like the color combo as well (esp the top red piece).
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I have seen this at supermarkets before but never tried it. But after looking at your delicious photos, maybe I will buy one to try in the near future!
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I have never had a Chayote before but it sounds interesting. The stir-fry looks nice and tasty. That Amazake also sounds really interesting!
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Wanted to let you know that the round-up has been posted!
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