Beef Rolls with Enoki and Veggies

My family loves these Beef Rolls with Enoki and Veggies. Since there is protein, veggies and mushrooms all bundled together, it is the perfect standalone, well-rounded meal which makes me love it even more. They are soo good — with all that sauce — served on rice! Once the bundles are prepared, they cook in a matter of minutes right in the pan along with the sauce. Faster than the time it takes to cook the rice. Dinner is served!

My grandmother ( 婆婆 ) inspired me to recreate this recipe which was one of the most memorable dishes she used to make for us. As a young person, I remember wondering how she could find the patience to individually roll so many of these things to feed our family of 6, back when we all lived together in one multi-generational home. She passed away last month but she lives on in my mind as a bad-ass woman who raised two kids on her own while working a full-time teaching job plus side hustles, who somehow found the resources to sew clothing for her children and later send her son to school abroad, who rushed from work to her adult daughter’s house to babysit us grandkids whenever she was asked, who fed us blue-tin Danish cookies and strong Hong Kong milk tea for breakfast when we were little (at which I would gasp today but was one of my fondest memories with her) and who cooked us amazing Chinese meals every night. 婆婆,this recipe is dedicated to you 💛

beef rolls with enoki and veggies - recipe head note:

  1. What is “hotpot” or “shabu-shabu” style sliced meat?

    This style of very thinly sliced meat is commonly sold frozen at Chinese and other East Asian (Korean/Japanese) supermarkets. I choose beef short rib plate for this recipe because it has nice marbling. If you can’t access this style of meat, you can slice a piece of meat at home. Freeze partially (15-20 minutes) to make it easier to cut thinly with a knife or mandolin.

     

Beef Rolls with Enoki and Veggies

Serves 4.

INGREDIENTS.

For the sauce:

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

½ tsp honey or sugar

1 C chicken broth or any broth of choice

For beef rolls with enoki and veggies:

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lb very thinly sliced, hotpot style beef (my pack had ~40 slices) – see note 1

2 x 150g packages enoki mushrooms, pulled by hand into small bunches (same number of bunches as the number of meat slices)

1 orange, red or yellow bell pepper, julienned

1 medium zucchini, julienned into similar length as bell pepper strips from above

Oil for cooking (I use avocado oil)

Chopped scallions to garnish, steamed rice for serving

 

METHOD.

Prepare the sauce: Whisk cornstarch and water to dissolve. Add remaining sauce ingredients and set aside.

Form beef rolls: Place one strip of beef vertically. About half an inch from the bottom, place enoki bunch, 2-3 pepper strips and 2-3 zucchini strips horizontally. Roll beef up and around the enoki and veggies. Place seam-side down on plate. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Cook: Heat a large (11-12”) sauce pan over medium heat. Give sauce ingredients a quick whisk as the cornstarch will have settled by now. Add a drizzle of oil and the garlic. Stir quickly to prevent burning. Immediately add sauce. Turn heat down to medium-low if the sauce is simmering too aggressively – we don’t want to boil it off too quickly. Give sauce a few stirs with a spatula. Arrange beef rolls around the pan in concentric circles, leaving a bit of space between them to allow proper cooking. You will likely need to cook the rolls in 2 batches as I did. Cover with lid. Adjust heat to a good simmer and let cook until beef has gone from pink to fully cooked – keep a close eye on it as the beef is so thin that it cooks (and overcooks) quickly. Transfer cooked rolls onto serving platter and tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Cook second batch. Serve beef rolls with enoki and veggies on serving platter with sauce poured all over. Garnish with scallions. We love these served over steamed rice.

Enjoy!

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