Among beef stir fry dishes, Beef and Pepper stir-fry is a favorite dish of ours and is very simple to make. Tender flank steak is especially tasty when sliced into thin strips and marinated. Long hot green peppers are a very popular item at the Asian grocery store, and also readily available at our local supermarket. They pack a ton of flavor when stir-fried at hot temperatures. Combine these two ingredients, and you have a real winner of a dish!
The one caveat here before I move on is that sometimes, these long green hot peppers are hot, I mean like sweat beads forming on top of your head while you’re eating them, hot! Generally, you wouldn’t think that beef and green peppers is a hot dish but they could be so use your own judgment and mix in some milder peppers if this scares you.
While I can’t speak to the origins of this dish, it can be very hot and spicy depending upon the heat level of the peppers you find. Sometimes, you’ll get a very mild flavor and sometimes, you get walloped with spicy deliciousness! Wherever it’s from, beef and pepper stir-fry is a candidate for a regular weeknight rotation meal. Every time we make this beef and pepper stir-fry immediately with rice. at home, we wonder why we don’t make it more often. With some practice, you can cook this dish using a searing hot wok to get some serious ‘wok hay’ going and bring out the flavors of the beef and peppers.
You’ll need:
For the beef and marinade:
- 12 oz. flank steak, sliced into thin strips
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (optional tenderizer)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 8 long hot green peppers, de-seeded and julienned to 3-inch strips
- 1 long hot red pepper, de-seeded and julienned to 3-inch strips
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- Fresh ground white pepper
- ¼ cup chicken stock (optional)
Add all the marinade ingredients to the beef in a bowl, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.
When you’re ready to cook, add oil to a wok and place over high heat until it’s almost smoking. Sear the beef until it’s just browned but still a little rare. If your carbon steel wok is as hot as it should be, the beef should not stick and you should see a nice seared color. Turn off the heat while you transfer the beef to a separate bowl. Leave any oil/fat in the wok.
Heat the wok back up to medium-high heat and add the garlic and peppers. Stir-fry for 20 seconds and then spread the wine around the wok to de-glaze it.
Stir-fry for another 20 seconds and add the beef back to the wok along with any juices from the bowl. Add salt, sugar, soy sauces and fresh ground pepper. Turn the heat back up to high and stir-fry for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until the peppers turn darker.
If you like to have more sauce with the dish, add the chicken stock to further de-glaze the wok and reduce the liquid slightly. The cornstarch from the marinade will help thicken the sauce.
Plate and serve your Beef and Pepper Stir-fry immediately with rice.
Beef and Pepper Stir-fry
Ingredients
For the beef and marinade:
- 12 oz. flank steak (sliced into thin strips)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (optional tenderizer)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 8 long hot green peppers (de-seeded and julienned into 3-inch strips)
- 1 long hot red pepper (de-seeded and julienned into 3-inch strips)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- Fresh ground white pepper
- ¼ cup chicken stock (optional)
Instructions
- Add all the marinade ingredients to the beef in a bowl, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- When you're ready to cook, add oil to a wok and place over high heat until it's almost smoking. Sear the beef until it's just browned but still a little rare. If your wok is as hot as it should be, the beef should not stick and you should see a nice seared color. Turn off the heat while you transfer the beef to a separate bowl. Leave any oil/fat in the wok.
- Heat the wok back up to medium-high heat and add the garlic and peppers. Stir-fry for 20 seconds and then spread the wine around the wok to de-glaze it. Stir-fry for another 20 seconds and add the beef back to the wok along with any juices from the bowl. Add salt, sugar, soy sauces and fresh ground pepper. Turn the heat back up to high and stir-fry for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until the peppers turn darker.
- If you like to have more sauce with the dish, add the chicken stock to further de-glaze the wok and reduce the liquid slightly. The cornstarch from the marinade will help thicken the sauce. Plate and serve immediately with rice.
Nutrition
Craig says
I found myself at home alone for dinner with 6oz of flank steak, a red & a green bell pepper and a jalapeno pepper. I think you can guess what happened next. Life is Good. Thanks Bill.
Judy says
Awesome!
Matthew Barnes (aka Mattyboo) says
This was delicious, quick, and easy. Very nice! I served it with your salted fish and chicken fried rice. They were very nice together.
Bill says
Hi Matthew, sound wonderful, thanks for sharing!
michael weingarten says
Two words ……. WOW …… thanks!
Judy says
Thank you for your praise, Michael!
Monica says
This recipe was so. good. Unfortunately, we live in a very small town where there are no Asian markets. I ended up having to substitute the peppers with serranos peppers and a red bell pepper – still turned out so delicious! Thank you for making this blog and posting all these great recipes :)
Bill says
Hi Monica, Something that I did not explicitly mention is that this recipe will work with just about any peppers including spicier ones like serranos or even jalepenos combined with sweet red or green peppers. The high heat stir-frying is the key that really brings out the flavors! Thanks for sharing your experience and your great substitutions.
Ed says
I made this dish last night and it came out awesome. The beef was so tender. My family loves your recipes!!!!!
Bill says
Thanks For sharing Ed. It’s such a simple dish that really brings out the beef flavor with an extra spicy kick! Glad to hear you guys are cooking with us!
Sonja says
Okay, I had to take a break from stuffing my face with this dish because it is so delicious. Seriously a great and simple dish! Unfortunately I don’t have a wok so I tried to stir fry in my all-clad… big mistake! Definitely going to get a wok asap! Thanks for the great recipe :)
Bill says
Thanks for sharing your experience Sonja. We also plowed through our dish along with the rice after the pictures were taken!
Rachel (Rachel's Kitchen NZ) says
So fresh and delicious – Bill – peppers are still in-season down here and good, so will pick some up at the markets at the weekend.
Bill says
Thanks Rachel. Hope you enjoy it!
monica says
your recipes are delicious thank you so much for sharing. i have been in search for a recipe and was wondering if you may have it. it is the red pork strips from Chinese takeout.thanks
Bill says
Hi Monica, Many restaurants get full racks of pork ribs and then they cut off the lower portion with soft bones and they also remove a large meaty strip going across the rib itself. The soft boned portions are cut into bite sized pieces and sold as “rib tips” and the strips are marinated and also served as BBQ roast pork strips. In general, they use the same spare rib sauce:
or the same sauce as the roast pork:
Heather says
Do you have any photos of what the peppers look like whole, so I can look for them in my grocery store?
Bill says
Hi Heather,
We have a picture of the peppers in our Tiger Skin Peppers post:
They definitely vary in heat level with the dark green ones usually being spicier (not sure if this is true or just superstition). Happy shopping and cooking!
TeaJae says
yes sir Bill yes sir Oh so good. this year I’m investing in a wok I don’t have one I sure need it. :)
Bill says
Go for it Tracey!