fragrant cumin and coriander beef

2 min read

We fondly remember discovering the combination of beef and cumin while we were on a childhood trip to Beijing. We had ordered grilled beef skewers from a little hole-in-the-wall shop, and we watched with anticipation as the shop owner lavishly showered on mysterious little brown seeds to encrust the beef entirely. As we dug in, the beef and toasted cumin pair-ing was the most marvellous explosion of flavour. Since then we have been hooked on cumin-and this is one of our favourite ways of cooking with it at home.

Serves 2300g beef rump steak, sliced against the grain into 5mm strips 1 red pepper (about 220g), deseeded handful fresh coriander, leaves and stalks separated 2 tbsp vegetable oil 12 medium onion (about 80g), sliced 1 tsp finely diced ginger 1 clove garlic, finely diced 1%2 tsp ground cumin 12 tsp light soy sauce steamed jasmine rice, to serve for the marinade 1 tbsp cornfloursauce 12 tsp light soy sauce tsp dark soy sauce 14 tsp salt tsp bicarbonate of soda 12 tbsp vegetable oil 1 Put the beef in bowl, add the marinade ingredients and 2 teaspoons water. Mix well. Cover and chill for up to 4 hours (if you have time) or continue as below. 2 Cut the red pepper into eight segments then cut each segment into three diagonal pieces to create rhombus shapes. Dice the coriander stalks, then roughly chop the leaves and set both aside.

3 Heat tablespoon oil in a wok over a high heat and stir-fry the onion briefly until it glistens. Add the red pepper and stir-fry until slightly softened and the onion is tinged with gold. Remove from the wok and set aside.

4 Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok then briefly stir-fry the ginger and garlic. Arrange the beef in a single layer over the base of the wok and leave for 30 seconds, or until a slight crust has formed on the bottom of each slice, then stir-fry for 4 minutes until the beef has lost its pink-ness. Add the cumin and coriander stalks and toss for 30 seconds until perfumed and fragrant.