Home cooked: Beef con Ampalaya with tausi

I bought ampalaya so we have veggies for dinner when my mom came over to attend my son's moving up day. We ended up doing something else so it got stuck in the fridge for a couple of days. I thought to whip up this recipe instead of the original plan I had of just sauteing it with egg.

Again, this was my first time to cook this so I just followed the recipe I found on the internet. 

Here's the ingredients:

2 medium sized ampalaya (bitter gourd), sliced

about a cup of black beans (Tausi)

2 tablespoons corn starch diluted in water

onion and garlic for sauteing

half kilo of beef sirloin cut into strips

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp soy sauced

salt and pepper to taste

What I normally do when I cook ampalaya is to soak it in water with some salt to lessen the bitterness. Got this tip from my mom. Others advise to blanch or pre-boil it but I feel that it takes away the nutrients if you boil it first.

Here's the cooking prodecure. Marinade the sirloin strips in soy sauce for about 10-15 minutes. When ready, saute garlic and onions then add the drained sirloin tips. Put in tausi and bring to a gentle boil. Add amplaya and about 2 cups of water, then cover to boil. You can then add some soy sauce and oyster sauce to the mix. Taste. Add pepper and some more salt to adjust saltiness to your liking. Ampalaya takes some time to cook. Just a few minutes before it is done though, start adding the cornstarch to thicken the sauce. 

This is a pretty easy dish that serves 5-6 persons. Enjoy!

Beef con Amapalaya with Tausi