I don't know why, but I get really strong cravings for different ethnic food groups. Sometimes I can't get enough Mexican; I'm like ravenous for a good fish taco or fajitas. Othertimes it's Thai, Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, you get the idea... Recently, when we came back from vacation, I couldn't stop thinking about Chinese food. Usually, I'd just head on over to my neighborhood Chinese spot, Han Dynasty (which is totally amazing) and slap some dan dan noodles, wontons, rice and spicy meat into my mouth and be good as gold. This time however, I decided that I should be better than that.
After a week of indulging on fried food, mojitos and pina coladas in the Caribbean, I thought maybe I should try and eat something remotely healthy. But the cravings just don't subside until they are satisfied, so I was challenged with the task of making healthy Chinese myself! I decided that I needed to make a stir fry filled with lots of vegetables and some steak. I googled some stir fry recipes for inspiration but I'm really the worst about following recipes exactly so I used a bunch of different tips for inspiration.
I can't give you exact measurements for this recipe because I didn't measure anything. But I'm showing you all the ingredients and the process and you can go to town with your own rendition.
Sweet and Spicy Beef Stir Fry:
- Beef stir fry strips
- 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 Tbs. sesame oil
- Vegetables: red and yellow peppers, broccoli, baby corn, water chestnuts
- Sauce: soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, grated ginger, and brown sugar (not pictured)
- Green onions for garnish
- Toasted sesame seed for garnish
Step 1: Cut up your veggies.
Step 2: Liberally season the beef with salt and pepper
Step 3: Heat your olive oil and sesame oil in a wok or large frying pan on med-high heat.
Step 4: Add beef to the pan to brown. After about five minutes flip beef to cook the other side. I had a lot of beef so I had to do two batches of browning.
Step 5: Remove all beef and deglaze the pan with a little stock (beef or chicken), water, or wine.
Step 6: Add the beef back to the pan.
Step 7: Add veggies to the pan and mix in with beef. Reduce heat to medium.
Step 8: While your veggies are heating, prepare your stir fry sauce. I used approximately 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sriracha, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of ginger, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes.
Step 9: Mix veggies, and add your sauce to the pan.
Step 10: When veggies are cooked to your desired doneness, turn off heat and add sesame seeds and green onions.
Final product:
If I were to make this recipe again, there are a few things I might do differently. First, I would put in way more broccoli. I had two smallish heads, but I would probably double that amount. I also might consider adding some additional veggies like shredded carrots, snap peas and maybe onions.
I was rather pleased with the flavor. It was sweet at first with a little kick of spiciness at the finish. Give it a try, it was pretty easy and since it all cooks in one dish, there's minimal clean up. Stir fry might be a regular staple from now on.
Other posts you might be interested in:
* Carnitas pork recipe for tacos or just to eat
* Easy barbecue chicken
* Roast chicken that is so moist and flavorful
Very brilliant recipe! I want to try this dish, I think I will eat a lot when I cook this beef stir fry. Thank you for this!
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