Chinese Pepper Steak

[Andy M.]

Here's my recipe. I started with an Epicurious.com recipe and tweaked it to our liking. This is enough for two.

Chinese Pepper Steak

8 Oz Flank Steak
4 tsp Dark Soy Sauce

½ Tb Cornstarch

1 Tb Chinese Rice Wine
2 tsp Garlic (use a rasp grater)
2 tsp Ginger (use a rasp grater)
¼ tsp Salt
½ tsp Sugar
2 tsp Peanut Oil
1 Tb Ketchup
1 Tb Hoi sin sauce
2 tsp Chile Garlic Sauce
4 tsp Peanut Oil, divided
1 tsp Salt
1 Ea Bell Pepper, ¼” strips
½ C Beef Broth, optional
½ C Scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp Sesame Oil

Cut the steak with grain into 1½ - 2-inch-wide strips. Cut each strip across grain into ¼ inch-thick slices.

Put the slices into a medium bowl with the soy sauce, cornstarch, rice wine, garlic, ginger, salt, sugar, and the oil and stir with a fork. Marinate, refrigerated, for at least 30 minutes and up to four hours.

Stir together the ketchup, hoi sin, and chile garlic sauce in a small bowl and set it aside.

Heat the wok over high heat. Pour 2 teaspoons oil down the side of the wok, then swirl the oil, tilting the wok to coat the sides. Add the salt and bell pepper. Stir-fry to cook the pepper. Remove to a plate.

Pour the remaining 2 teaspoons of the oil down the side of the wok over high heat, then swirl the oil, tilting wok to coat sides.

Add the beef, spreading pieces in one layer on the bottom and sides as quickly as possible.

Cook undisturbed, letting beef begin to brown, for 1 minute, then stir-fry until meat is just browned on all sides but still pink in center, about 1 minute.

Add the cooked peppers, the scallions, the beef with any juices and the ketchup mixture. Bring to a boil and stir-fry until well combined and heated through. If the sauce is too thick, use some or all of the broth to thin it. Conversely, if the sauce is too thin, simmer to thicken.

Toss with the sesame oil then transfer to a platter.

[Janet H]

This looks wonderful - thanks for posting :)

[PrincessFiona60]

Yum...copied and pasted! Thanks!

[Zhizara]

Copied and pasted. I had to do the email trick so I could adjust font and font size. This one wouldn't paste into word, but did paste into an email message. It's okay, but my print has "Yahoo" plastered across the top.

Anyway, thanks for the recipe. Now that I have it printed out I can take the time to read it through. Looks really good.

[thymeless]

Where's the black pepper? That's the traditional pepper in this dish as bell peppers are New World foods. Sure, I enjoy the bells in the modern interpretation too, but a generous dose of black pepper is what sends this dish. A little Sichuan pepper is good in it too.

Most versions also include some onion beyond just the scallion.

The ketchup and hoisin sauce aren't standard either. If you like it that way, fine.

Technique wise, this is also a classic dish for the passing through oil technique. It's very difficult if not impossible to stir fry thin slices of beef to proper doneness evenly on all pieces, especially if you want some rareness left. So the meat is usually par-cooked/blanched in moderately hot oil first (as in a deep fry technique), then set aside to drain off excess oil. Then it is added to the vegies at the end just to come back up to temperature.

Certainly food can be cooked in many good ways. Just pointing out some diversions in the above recipe from what I would consider the standard treatment.

[Andy M.]

While this wasn't the recipe you were expecting, I never said it was a black pepper dish. This is a pepper steak dish of the type found in Chinese restaurants across the US.

Perhaps if you did a search of Chinese recipe sites you will find the dish you are looking for.

[Zhizara]

I don't really like black pepper so I wouldn't use it anyway.

I do like the rest of the ingredients.

I'm working on ideas for all the pork from the roast. The sherry/water braising liquid really cooked into the meat, and there is about a cup+ left of the liquid.

I bet some would be good as jerky/bbqy something.

[Constance]

This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes. However, we have a Chinese restaurant about 2 blocks from here where we can get that and many other favorites cheaper and tastier than we can fix at home. I'm talking a big plate full, plus soup and an egg roll for about $6.
I don't know what's happened to me, but it seems like after I turned 60, I started getting lazy about cooking.

[Zhizara]

Shoot, if I had access like that to good Chinese, I'd get lazy too.

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Zhizara

Shoot, if I had access like that to good Chinese, I'd get lazy too.

Me, too!

[thymeless]

The pepper steak I've run into in restaurants has the black pepper and the bells as well. And the recipes in books specify the black pepper though it's not in the name itself.

[Bolas De Fraile]

Its about regional cooking, Sichuan food is dryer and spicier than Cantonese.

[Zhizara]

Originally Posted by thymeless

The pepper steak I've run into in restaurants has the black pepper and the bells as well. And the recipes in books specify the black pepper though it's not in the name itself.

I missed something here. Bell's Seasoning? Isn't that a lot like Old Bay?

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Zhizara

I missed something here. Bell's Seasoning? Isn't that a lot like Old Bay?

They meant bell peppers!

[Zhizara]

Originally Posted by PrincessFiona60

They meant bell peppers!

Funny, but I just don't like bell peppers anymore. Old Bay Seasoning sounds pretty good.

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Zhizara

Funny, but I just don't like bell peppers anymore. Old Bay Seasoning sounds pretty good.

My grandmother would dice her bell peppers, so nicely, add them to the dish and when we sat to eat she would meticulously pick them all out. She liked the flavor, but hated to eat them

[Zhizara]

Originally Posted by PrincessFiona60

My grandmother would dice her bell peppers, so nicely, add them to the dish and when we sat to eat she would meticulously pick them all out. She liked the flavor, but hated to eat them

I hadn't had any peppers for awhile, they just got too expensive and I just learned to do without.

When I had the chance to buy some pretty ones at a reasonable price I started putting it into everything that I used to, and discovered I don't like the taste anymore. It's just too strong.

Pepper too. I over peppered one split pea soup too many and realized that everything had that flavor, and that it over powered the flavor of the food, so I pretty much stopped using it. I had also gotten too heavy handed with all the spices, that I made a plain batch of split peas, by the package directions. It was incredibly delicious.

I got the idea from one time I made up a batch of beans and forgot to add the onion and garlic. It was refreshing to taste the beans without those other flavors we take for granted.

[Uncle Bob]

I had a similar dish this past week....While there may have been a little black pepper in it it certainly didn't play a major role...The "Stars" of the show were the meat and bell peppers.... Very good!!

Your recipe sounds delish Andy!! Thanks for sharing it!

[Constance]

Did you know that those red (and orange) bell peppers that are so costly have more vitamin C than an orange? I buy them in late summer, when they are in season and less expensive, dice them into strips and/or 1" squares and freeze in ziplock bags. They hold their flavor quite well, IMHO.

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by thymeless

The pepper steak I've run into in restaurants has the black pepper and the bells as well. And the recipes in books specify the black pepper though it's not in the name itself.

Clearly you were expecting a different dish. I hope you can find what you're looking for.

Meanwhile, You may want to try my recipe, not as a version of the dish you expected but as a tasty dish. It doesn't have black pepper in it but it's pretty tasty. Call it Bell Pepper Steak instead.