Szechuan Beef
This sizzling and delicious Szechuan beef recipe is so easy to make at home. Spice up your dinner tonight with this Chinese restaurant stir fry favorite.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Skillet or Wok
- Microplane or Grater
- Tongs or Spatula
Ingredients
For the Stir Fry:
- 1 Pound flank steak thinly sliced
- ¼ Cup cornstarch
- ½ Teaspoon salt
- ½ Teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ Cup vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced into strips
- 6 to 8 dried red chilies
- 1 Tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns or black peppercorns, optional
- 2 Cloves garlic minced
- 1 Teaspoon fresh ginger minced or grated
For the Sauce:
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 1 Tablespoon mirin or rice wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
- 1½ Tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ Cup chicken broth
Optional Garnish:
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Add the steak, cornstarch, salt, and pepper to a medium mixing bowl and toss to combine.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat.
- Once hot, add steak in a single layer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Remove the steak and set it aside on a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions and bell peppers to the pan.
- Cook for 2 or 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the dried chilies, peppercorns, garlic, and ginger to the pan.
- Cook, stirring all the time, for a minute or until fragrant.
- Whisk together the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, mirin, sesame oil, brown sugar, cornstarch, and chicken broth in a small bowl.
- Add the beef back into the pan and pour in the sauce.
- Toss everything together and cook until the sauce has thickened, 2 or 3 minutes.
- Serve the Szechuan beef over rice, garnished with green onions if liked.
Notes
Prepping ginger: The best and easiest way to add fresh ginger to dishes is by peeling a ginger root and storing it in a Ziploc bag in the freezer until needed. When you’re make your recipe, just take the frozen ginger out the freezer and use a microplane grater to grate fresh ginger into the sauce.
Cutting the steak: Freeze the steak for 30 minutes before you begin. Partially freezing it will make it much easier to thinly slice the steak against the grain.
Getting the spice factor right: This dish is meant to be quite spicy but if you prefer mild flavors or you're cooking for a mixed group, you might like to make it less spicy and offer hot sauce, chilies or red pepper flakes at the table. I recommend tasting the sauce as you go. It's easier to add more spice than to remove it if you've put in too much!
Cutting the steak: Freeze the steak for 30 minutes before you begin. Partially freezing it will make it much easier to thinly slice the steak against the grain.
Getting the spice factor right: This dish is meant to be quite spicy but if you prefer mild flavors or you're cooking for a mixed group, you might like to make it less spicy and offer hot sauce, chilies or red pepper flakes at the table. I recommend tasting the sauce as you go. It's easier to add more spice than to remove it if you've put in too much!
Nutrition
Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 1381mg | Potassium: 551mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 935IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 2mg
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