Shredded Beef with Sweet Peppers

Village Idiot · January 2013

I'm thinking I'm wearing out my welcome with Asian dishes, so let me know if I should get back to spatchcocks.

I am delving deeper into authentic regional Chinese dishes. This one is Sichuan. Sichuan is famous for hot and spicy dishes, but this one is not hot at all. No chili oil, not even any ginger. I got the recipe from the book: Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes by Fuchsia Dunlop. Essentially, it's flank steak with bell peppers and sauce.

Here is a brief photo essay.

First, stir fry the bell peppers.

Offload them to a plate, then stir fry the beef. It is very important to keep the ingredients sizzling throughout the cook. Wok hei cannot be achieved if the wok temperature gets too low.

A few steps missing here, but essentially you put the bell peppers back on, add sweet bean paste and then add the sauce. ALWAYS drizzle the sauce down the sides of the wok instead of the middle so you don't lower the temperature too much.

Finished.

Plated with some store bought dumplings (thanks to Kristi's inspiration). I like my dumplings so much more, but I am out of them at the present.

In case you're interested, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Flank steak

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Green bell peppers

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Szechuan sweet bean paste

Peanut Oil

-----Marinade------

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Shao Hsing rice wine

3 teaspoons Corn starch

-----Sauce --------

1 1/2 teaspoons Light Soy Sauce

1/4 teaspoon Salt

3/4 teaspoon Corn starch

3 tablespoons Chicken stock

Directions:

1. Cut the beef against the grain into very fine slivers and place it in a bowl. Add the marinade ingredients and mix well.

2. Cut the peppers into long, thin strips to match the beef.

3. Combine the sauce ingredients into a small bowl.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over a medium flame. Add the bell peppers and ¼ teaspoon of salt and stir fry for about a minute, until they are just cooked. Remove and set aside.

5. Rinse out the wok

6. Add 2 teaspoons of oil to the beef and mix well.

7. Season the wok, then add 3 tablespoons of oil and heat over a high flame. Add the beef and stir fry briskly. When the meat strips have separated out, add the sweet bean paste and stir fry for about 10 seconds until the sauce is hot and fragrant.

8. Add the peppers and mix well.

9. Immediately give the sauce a stir and add it to the wok. Stir for a few seconds more until the sauce has thickened and then turn everything out onto a serving plate.

Reeyahps · January 2013

Village Idiot said:

I'm thinking I'm wearing out my welcome with Asian dishes, so let me know if I should get back to spatchcocks.

VI, it's really great that you do such different things. I'm about to go to your personal website to get some ideas for something different to try this weekend.

Little Steven · January 2013

You wore out your welcome a long time ago. Nice cook!

Village Idiot · January 2013

Little Steven said:

You wore out your welcome a long time ago. Nice cook!

Yes, I remember it well. It was my post that said "Hi. My name is Gary. I'm new here".

:-S

rustypotts · January 2013

Very cool. How do you get the cooked stuff out of the wok? do you ladle the stuff out or pick the wok up and dump it? I know some woks have a long handle but yours doesnt. I've never really understood the process.

Village Idiot · January 2013

Rusty,

That wok is so seasoned, the food just slides off of it. I pick it up on the handles with two gloves, then dump it. Just for a change, I am breaking in a new wok with a handle to try a different technique of alternating shuffling the food with the handle, then flipping it with a chuan.

Reeyahps · January 2013

... I'm back from VI's page-o-cooks. Thinking maybe Bool Kogi or Char Sui or Beef Negimayaki ...

Botch · January 2013

Village Idiot said:
ALWAYS drizzle the sauce down the sides of the wok instead of the middle so you don't lower the temperature too much.

That's interesting. I do the opposite, actually spread the food towards the sides of the wok and pour the sauce into the hot center. At that point, the food is cooked; the sauce (your recipe is very similar to mine) thickens almost immediately, and then I toss everything together to coat.

Village Idiot · January 2013

Botch,

As long as you keep the food sizzling hot, I'm sure that would work just as well. What you don't want is to have your food in the middle, and dump your sauce on top of it. The way I do it is how I learned from Grace Young.

Dyal_SC · January 2013

Lord have mercy, that looks so good. Bookmarked.

Reeyahps · January 2013

VI, I found the links/recipes for the Char Sui and Beef Negimayaki, but it looks like the recipe you used (via a different forum member) for Bool Kogi has been deleted. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but would you mind posting the recipe for Bool Kogi?

By the way, did you post for a while as Howdy Doody??

Mighty_Quinn · January 2013

I'm here for the spatchcock.

Village Idiot · January 2013

Reeyahps said:

VI, I found the links/recipes for the Char Sui and Beef Negimayaki, but it looks like the recipe you used (via a different forum member) for Bool Kogi has been deleted. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but would you mind posting the recipe for Bool Kogi?

By the way, did you post for a while as Howdy Doody??

I got the recipe from this link. Click here. I think I stuck to the recipe pretty much.

As far as posting under another name, I have been in the Witness Protection Program and disclosing any prior user names could be detrimental to my health.

Village Idiot · January 2013

Mighty_Quinn I couldn't disclose my spatchcock technique. It is a secret process, handed down in my family from father to son as far back as Lord Spatchcock of Inverness, my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g grandfather. How about beer can chicken?

AleBrewer · January 2013

Gary, I may have missed it in a previous post....but is that a 16" wok from CGS?

Mighty_Quinn · January 2013

Beer can chicken could work...do you do that indirect or direct? How long will that take?

Reeyahps · January 2013

Village Idiot said:

I got the recipe from this link. Click here. I think I stuck to the recipe pretty much.

Thanks!!!

Doc_Eggerton · January 2013

Your cooks will never wear out with me. I could use a chuckle from doing something off beat in the wok.

If you know how to do them, I would love to see a wok made omlet, oh, and something using fish.

Would be very interested to see soups as well.

I too wonder if I am wearing out my welcome sometimes with my pedestrian but frequent cooks, but there are always new folks cycling through, please keep it up.

Doc_Eggerton · January 2013

Village Idiot said:

Rusty,

I pick it up on the handles with two gloves, then dump it.

+1, I move mine wearing Ovegloves and using welders gloves like pot holders. I don't dump mine, but move it to one of the other Eggs which is unlit and cold. I then put a cover on the wok for a few minutes. First time I moved it I used only welders gloves and it took about 3 seconds to start burning me badly. Fortunately I have some experience with getting burned from welding, and instead of dumping it in the pool I was able to set in on the deck. Still have a scar from that burn.

Skiddymarker · January 2013

As always a treat to look at, thanks for the info, great cook. Taiwanese friend says you have good taste in cooking wine, she usually drinks that stuff - the Shao Hsing that is....

Village Idiot · January 2013

AleBrewer said:

Gary, I may have missed it in a previous post....but is that a 16" wok from CGS?

AB,

It's a 16 inch wok, but I don't recall if I got that one from CGS or The Wok Shop in San Francisco. I have 5 woks, so I don't remember where I got each one. I think the 16" CS wok from both places are almost identical, and both places are easy to do business with.

Advantages to The Wok Shop: More of a selection. Also, get accessories, like a long spatula.

Advantages to CGS: You can get a spider for the wok at the same time. Tom is an Egghead.

Village Idiot · January 2013

Doc_Eggerton said:

If you know how to do them, I would love to see a wok made omlet, oh, and something using fish.

Doc,

I do Migas (scrambled eggs, Mexican chorizo, serrano chiles, tomato, onion, bell pepper, corn tortillas, cheddar cheese, cilantro) on a wok, but I always use my mini wok on the Mini for them. I'll take pictures next time.

I do blackened fish on a comal, but not on a wok.

NibbleMeThis · January 2013

I always enjoy Asian done on the Egg and don't get tired of these posts at all! Nicely done.

ccpoulin1 · January 2013

keep it going man (or should i say ManGrate!) I have been watching your cooks for almost a year now. I never get sick of the cook, the creativity and your willingness to share----thanks, and wok on

Chubbs · January 2013

Sorry ccpoulin. Accidentally hit disagree with damn iPhone.

@VI solid as always my man. I need to dust off my wok this weekend.

piney · January 2013

VI I also enjoy all your cooks from spatchcock to wok. I ordered a wok,shovel & spatula from webrestaurantstore.com got a 16 carbon steel seasoned it with 5 coats of flaxseed oil, love it.Also I just saved to my desktop the link to Pepper Fools thanks for all the info I get from your post.

AleBrewer · January 2013

Thanks Gary....I've ordered stuff from Tom before, and I'm very happy with my woo and extender grate. I'll be getting a spider from him for sure. I have a 16" carbon steel wok with a wooden handle now.....but it's been pretty well abused. Looking to pick up a new one. I'll probably get one from Tom or the wok shop....need to get some of those long handled utensils too.

jfm0830 · January 2013

Well I don't get tired of seeing your wok posts VI, I did get tired of seeing mine. I've made some more stuff on the wok myself, but I haven't bothered posting pictures cause I felt like I was becoming a one trick pony.

That looks like an amazing, amazing dinner! It almost looks too colorful and too good to eat. Thank you for posting the recipe I think that's on my short list of things to do on the wok.

I'm doing something interesting today and a little bit different. I'm actually sitting out in my grill gazebo keeping an eye on the Egg so I don't set my cedar plank boat I'm doing this dish in on fire.

Thanks again for this amazing post!!

Jim

jfm0830 · January 2013

Hwy VI I wanted to thank you again for this recipe. I made it tonight for supper and it is my favorite beef stir fry I've made to date. The flank steak had an incredible beefy flavor that my wife and I both enjoyed a lot.

I gotta ask: Have you made any other recipes from this cookbook and would you recommend this cookbook?

Village Idiot · January 2013

Wow, Jim. Ya know, when I see a post like yours, it makes coming to the forum all worth while. I don't post cooks to brag, but to hopefully share something I found that is good with the rest of the folks so that they may enjoy it too. That's why I always try to post the recipe or the link where I got it.

I am so glad that you liked it. As far as the book, I think you are a lot like me. You want to know about the culture and history of the cuisine as much as you want to discover new recipes and techniques. This book will not disappoint in that regard. I think, over time, I will cook 15 or more recipes from the book. Note that I have a Western palate and some of the recipes do not excite me much.

AleBrewer · January 2013

Who are you kidding VI? You post these pics to make us spend more cash. Yesterday I bought a bunch of stuff from the Wok Shop, and a spider from Tom.

Thanks to you, I can't afford my Mangrates this month!!

Oh yeah, also picked up "Breath of a Wok" too.

Looking forward to trying a bunch of new stuff after I season the new wok.

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