I used a slab of bottom round roast, defatted and cut into 2" long 3/4" wide 1/4" thick strips and velveted in the refrigerator in a Ziploc® quart freezer bag for six hours, and it was tender when served. Even so, I recommend a thickness of 1/8" if you use any cut of beef other than flank steak, just to guarantee tenderness. Before making the dish I bought the best Shaoxing rice cooking wine, the best Oyster Sauce and the best light Soy Sauce online via Amazon®. I figured I will get lots of use from all three products.
Chinese Pepper Steak is my sweetheart Peggy's favorite, so now you know why I captured this already fine recipe for Food Nirvana. But I had a reason to develop the recipe, which is to make it amenable to vacuum sealing and freezing for later use, to be heated and served along with freshly cooked rice. I expect the vegetables to come out more limp than when the dish is freshly made, but I think that is a minor downside vs having a nice backup supply to use any time we want pepper steak without the labor of cooking it from scratch. Thus, when I prepare it I will make enough for eight servings, in three batches ... two servings to be used immediately and six to be vacuum sealed and frozen for future use.
The only ingredient/seasoning changes I made to the recipe were to use a whole red bell pepper instead of half a red bell pepper, and to increase the roasted sesame oil from 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon. But I also used chicken broth when making the steamed rice.
Note that times shown for the stir frying depend in part on the size of your wok and on the ability of your stove to heat the wok, so you may have to stir fry a bit longer than what is provided in the directions.
Net Result ... To Die For Delicious! And credit must go in part to the premium products I bought for my pantry ... Shaoxing wine, Oyster Sauce and Light Soy Sauce ... to prepare for making this dish. It is flat out superb! Credit must also go to the makers of the Internet recipe, The Woks of Life, as it was the real thing, not some half baked idea, as proven by my results. So here is a big Thank You to the folks who provided this recipe!
Ingredients: (makes 2 generous or 3 regular servings)
For the beef:
12 ounces of flank steak (or London broil, etc., ergo lean beef)
1 1/2 tablespoons of water
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
2 teaspoons of neutral oil (like canola oil)
2 teaspoons of oyster sauce (or hoisin sauce)
2 teaspoons of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry or sake)
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
For the rest of the dish:
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
1 1/2 tablespoons of oyster sauce (or hoisin sauce)
1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry or sake)
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of roasted sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon of white pepper
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2" wide 2" long strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" wide 2" long strips
1 medium onion, chopped into 1"x1" pieces
2 tablespoons of neutral oil (like canola oil or peanut oil)
1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger (minced)
2 cloves of garlic (cut them into thin slices)
For the rice:
1 cup of uncooked Basmati rice, cooked/steamed for 14 minutes in one pint of chicken broth
Directions:
Slice the beef into 3-inch long strips, about ⅛” to ¼” thick. To make slicing easier, do it when the beef is slightly frozen and firm.
Velvet the beef: in a medium bowl, mix the beef with the water, cornstarch, oil, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine and baking soda. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or overnight, covered, in the refrigerator (The longer marinating time is needed for tougher beef cuts like London broil).
Prepare the steamed rice you plan to use for this meal, according to package directions.
Put your pepper steak serving bowl and guest plates into a 180 degrees F warming oven. Put the cooked rice into a serving bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the warming oven.
Make the sauce by mixing together the chicken stock, cornstarch, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, roasted sesame oil, and white pepper. Set the sauce aside.
Cut the bell peppers into strips and the onion into 1-inch pieces. Make sure that the pepper and onion pieces are all about the same size, so they cook evenly.
Heat the wok over high heat until it is smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to coat the wok. Sear the beef on both sides, about 30 seconds (or a bit more if the beef is 1/4" thick) per side. Give everything a final stir, then transfer the beef back to the marinating bowl, and set it aside. The beef should be about 80% cooked.
Reduce the heat to medium-high. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the wok. Toss in the ginger, and caramelize it for about 10 seconds. Then add the garlic, bell peppers, and onions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add the beef along with any juices. Stir-fry for 1 minute until all ingredients are combined. Increase the heat to high. Stir the sauce to re-incorporate the cornstarch, and then add it to the wok.
Stir-fry to coat everything with the sauce, which should thicken from the cornstarch. (Add more stock or water if the sauce looks too thick, or let the sauce cook down further if it is too thin.)
Once the sauce is simmering and thickened to your liking, transfer the dish to the prewarmed serving bowl, then serve individual portions of the pepper steak with the steamed rice on the prewarmed plates.
Enjoy!