Oyster sauce tasty condiment to flavor beef in Chinese dish

Beef stir-fried and flavored with oyster sauce is a typical Chinese dish. It takes a few minutes to prepare the ingredients, but only five minutes to stir-fry them. Oyster sauce is a tasty condiment to have on hand. Use it to flavor meat, vegetables and other stir-fry dishes.

Helpful hints:

■ Bottom round steak is sometimes called London Broil.

■ Angel hair pasta can be used instead of Chinese noodles.

Countdown:

■ Place water for noodles on to boil.

■ Make noodles.

■ Assemble ingredients.

■ Stir-fry beef.

Shopping list:

To buy: 1/2 pound bottom round steak, 1 bottle oyster sauce*, 1 bottle sesame oil, 1 small package broken walnuts, 1/2 pound trimmed green beans, 1/4 pound steamed or fresh Chinese noodles

Staples: salt, black peppercorns

*Look for oyster sauce containing per tablespoon: 9 calories, 492 mg sodium.

Beef in Oyster Sauce

2 tablespoons bottled oyster sauce* 3 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 cups trimmed green beans, cut in half (1/2 pound)

1/2 pound bottom round steak, cut into strips (2 inches by 1/2 inch) 2 tablespoons broken walnuts

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix oyster sauce and water together in a bowl. Set aside. Heat oil in a wok or skillet over high heat until smoking. Add the green beans. Stir-fry 3 minutes. Add steak and stir-fry 1 minute. Add oyster sauce and walnuts, toss 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove. Add drained noodles to wok. Toss 1 minute. Divide noodles between 2 dinner plates and serve beef, green beans and sauce on top. Yield 2 servings.

Nutritional analysis per serving: 312 calories, 162 calories from fat, 18 g total fat, 3.3 g saturated fat, 7.8 g monounsaturated fat, 68 mg cholesterol, 571 mg sodium, 10.8 g carbohydrate, 4.3 g dietary fiber, 1.7 g sugars, 27.9 g protein Exchanges: 1/2 carbohydrate, 1 vegetable, 3 lean meat, 2 1/2 fat

Chinese Noodles

1/4 pound steamed or fresh Chinese noodles (1 3/4cup cooked noodles) Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil over high heat and add noodles. Boil 1 minute, drain and add salt and pepper to taste. Add to wok after beef and vegetables have been removed. Yield 2 servings. Nutritional analysis per serving: 145 calories, 14 calories from fat, 1.6 g total fat, 0.3 g saturated fat, 0 g monounsaturated fat, 36 mg cholesterol, 8 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 1.1 g sugars, 5.3 g protein Exchanges: 2 starch From “Mix‘n’Match Meals in Minutes for People with Diabetes” by Linda Gassenheimer, published by the American Diabetes Association. Reprinted with permission from

The American Diabetes Association. Gassenheimer’s latest book is “Delicious One-Pot Dishes,” published by the American Diabetes Association.