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Restaurant-Style Beef Stir-Fry

Source of Recipe

From "The New Essentials Cookbook" by America's Test Kitchen


Recipe Introduction

"We covered our simple stir-fry rules earlier. This slightly more complex recipe is designed to re-create restaurant-style beef stir-fry, characterized by its velvety, tender beef. We adapted a Chinese restaurant technique called velveting, which uses a marinade of egg whites, cornstarch, water, and salt to tenderize the meat and give it a plush, silky coating. To simplify the multistep process, we applied an easier tenderizing trick by soaking sliced flank steak in a baking soda solution, then added it to a soy sauce-cornstarch marinade for perfectly tender beef. The Cantonese dish, black pepper beef (hei hu jiao niu liu), inspired the vegetables and salty-sweet-spicy pepper sauce that completed the stir-fry. Prepare the vegetables and aromatics while the beef is marinating. Serve with rice."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 tablespoon plus ¼ cup water
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
â—¦ 1 pound flank steak, trimmed, cut lengthwise into 2- to 2 ½-inch strips, then cut crosswise against grain into ¼-inch-thick slices
â—¦ 3 tablespoons soy sauce
â—¦ 3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
â—¦ 1 tablespoon cornstarch
â—¦ 2 ½ teaspoons packed light brown sugar
â—¦ 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
â—¦ 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
â—¦ 2 teaspoons coarsely ground pepper
â—¦ 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
â—¦ 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch strips
â—¦ 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch strips
â—¦ 6 scallions, white parts sliced thin on bias, green parts cut into 2-inch pieces
â—¦ 3 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦ 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger


Recipe

Combine 1 tablespoon water and baking soda in medium bowl. Add beef and toss to coat. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Whisk 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice wine, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, and ½ teaspoon sugar together in small bowl. Add mixture to beef, stir to coat, and let sit at room temperature for 15 to 30 minutes. Whisk remaining ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons rice wine, 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch, 2 teaspoons sugar, oyster sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and pepper in second bowl and set sauce aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of beef in single layer. Cook without stirring for 1 minute. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown on both sides, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to bowl. Repeat with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil and remaining beef.

Return skillet to high heat, add 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, and heat until just smoking. Add bell peppers and scallion greens and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are spotty brown and crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to bowl with beef.

Return now-empty skillet to medium-high heat and add remaining 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, scallion whites, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Return beef and vegetables to skillet and stir to combine. Whisk sauce to recombine. Add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce has thickened, about 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

Serves 4