Feature
November, 22 2008
Stir Fry Pepper Steak
by Drew Kime
Pepper steak is one of the easiest stir fry dishes you can make. It doesn't require any ingredients you can't find in just about any grocery store -- except for one, maybe, if you're really in the middle of nowhere. And it's fairly non-exotic, compared to some of the things you see on Anthony Bourdain's show, so even the most timid eater (or your kids) shouldn't be afraid to try it.
Wait, that's a pretty back-handed compliment ... "it's ordinary and safe." Okay, put it this way: Pepper steak is the meatloaf of stir fry cooking. It's never going to impress a critic, but everyone else knows it's just plain good.
Ingredients
1 pound flank steak
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 bell pepper
one medium onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced,
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger root
oil for frying
Directions
Slice the steak across the grain in thin strips, about a quarter-inch thick. In a container with a tight-fitting lid that's big enough to hold the sliced meat, combine the corn starch, sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. Add the steak and stir to coat. Put the lid on and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour.
While the meat marinates, dice the peppers into large bite-sized pieces, slice the onions into thin wedges, peel and mince the garlic, and grate the ginger root.
Heat a couple of tablespoons of high-temperature oil -- peanut, canola or olive pomace (not extra virgin) -- over high heat in a wok. Add the vegetables (but keep the bowl handy, you'll need it again) and cook for two or three minutes, stirring constantly, until the onion is translucent and the pepper has softened.<
Return the finished vegetables to the bowl (I told you you'd need it) and add more oil to the wok if there's none left. Add the meat, making sure you include all the marinade, and cook over high heat until browned all the way around, but not cooked all the way through.
Add the vegetables back in and cook everything for another 4-5 minutes until the steak is cooked all the way through, and the vegetables are warmed again.
Remove from heat and allow to rest for a few minutes so the sauce can thicken up. Then serve over white or fried rice.
And that's it.
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