The best way to deal with the Yankees getting knocked around by the Red Sox?

Eat well.

My friend Alex was a baseball blogger for a minute–that’s how we met. He’s long since retired but we’ve remained friends. We’re food nerds.  Alex pent a year in Thailand when he got out of college and knows more about Asian cuisine than anyone I’ve ever met. He’s curious and driven and is open about sharing his knowledge.

We’ve cooked together for years now–at his place or up at my crib in the Bronx. We work well together in the kitchen. Fluid. When it’s his place, I’m the sous chef and he puts me to work, and vice versa when we’re at my spot.

Last night, I stopped by Alex’s new apartment in downtown Manhattan. He belongs to a farmer’s collective and picks up fruits and vegetables once-a-week. Last night we had young broccoli rabe–still bitter but tender and almost delicate–arugula, mixed lettuces, radishes and spring garlic, to work with.

I was put in charge of the salad. I don’t much care for radishes but want to like them so I keep trying to prepare them in different ways. These were long like fingerling potatoes. I sliced three, thinly, added 1/4 of a large red onion (also sliced thin), sprinkled some salt and a little bit of sugar on them, added a teaspoon of cider vinegar, and let it pickle for twenty minutes.

I threw in a handful of the arugula, a bunch of mixed greens, and drained the radishes. Then I dressed the salad with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of red wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. 

Meanwhile, Alex prepared the main course, which was served over white rice. The recipe is listed below. Here are the flicks.

Hazy grizzle.

Garlic and onions.

The beef, onions and rabe.

Cooked down.

 Plate it Up.

The Main Dish.

MARINADE:
* beef (3/4 lb?), sliced thin crosswise (flank steak works well, just make sure to slice thin against the grain)
* salt
* 1/3 cup Chinese rice wine (shao xing), brandy, or similar

AROMATICS:
* garlic, minced
* onion, 1/2 sliced
* ginger, minced (we didn’t use this but you could)

VEGGIES:
* 1 bunch young broccoli rabe, or any other grean leafy dude
* 2 scallions, chopped into quarter-inch nuggets (we used young garlic from farmer’s market)

SAUCE:
* 1 TB Chinese rice wine (shao xing), brandy, or similar
* 1 TB soy sauce
* 1 1/2 TB oyster sauce
* 1 TB sugar
* 1 TB Chianking vinegar (Black vinegar), or balsamic vinegar
* 1 tsp sesame oil

* Peanut oil
* Salt & Pepper

1)) Combine marinade ingredients and let sit 30 min while you prep everything else. Don’t let marinade sit around forever (like overnight): it doesn’t enhance the flavor and just makes the meat mushy.

2) Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

3) Drain the beef from the marinade and pat it dry a bit with paper towels (this helps with carmelization). Heat some oil in a wok or nonstick pan, very high heat, and fry the beef in batches so it gets some good char. The goal is to make sure you are frying the beef, not boiling it, since it releases some liquid. Set beef aside and wipe out wok/pan.

4) Heat some more oil in wok/pan. Add the aromatics and cook until… aromatic. This could be less than a minute. Throw in the beef again, and now add the veggies. Stir fry for a minute or two.

5) Once the veggies are wilted, pour in the sauce and coat everything. The sauce should thicken a bit on its own. Taste and season with S&P as needed.