Forgive me for sounding arrogant, but sometimes when I eat dinner at Chinese restaurants with my family, I say to myself “I can probably make that at home. It can’t be that difficult.”
Look, I know my place in the world. I have no real interest in making intricate Chinese dishes like dim sum, cold plate appetizers, Chinese barbecue, most seafood and even some noodle dishes. But certainly, some stir-fries seem achievable for a home cook like me for far less than the restaurant price tag suggests.
Take for example this beef with mixed mushrooms stir-fry (什茵牛柳粒). My family orders this often. I mean, how hard can it be? It’s beef with veggies, right? Sort of. While the meat and veggies portion was easy to replicate, the black pepper sauce was a little bit trickier to engineer. Thankfully, with the help of Lee Kum Kee Black Pepper Sauce, this stir-fry tastes like it came straight out of a Chinese restaurant! I’m saving room in my dine out tummy for other things here on out!
If you like this Beef with Mixed Mushrooms Stir-Fry, try my
Broccoli Beef (西蘭牛肉)
Seafood Asparagus Stir-Fry
Eggplant Tofu
Beef with Mixed Mushrooms Stir-Fry (什茵牛柳粒)
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 small with side dishes 1x
- Category: Mains
- Method: Stir Fry
- Cuisine: Chinese
Description
This stir-fry tastes like it comes straight out of a Chinese restaurant! It’s like making Chinese takeout at home!
Ingredients
BEEF MARINADE
- 7 ounces of flank steak, room temperature, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1.5 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil
- A few cracks of black pepper
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
- 3 varieties of mushrooms (e.g., king oyster, beech, maitake, shiitake), washed and chopped into bite-size pieces
- A handful of green beans, trimmed to 2-inch long pieces
- 1 bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 1 small red onion, sliced into thin strips
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 3 stalks of green onion, trimmed to 1.5-inch long pieces
- Neutral-flavored cooking oil
- Salt
SAUCE
- 5 tablespoons of black pepper sauce
- 1 teaspoon of water
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
Instructions
- Marinate the beef. Minus the beef, mix all of the marinade ingredients well in a large bowl. Add the flank steak into the marinade. Combine until the beef has absorbed most, if not all, of the marinade. Set aside at room temperature.
- Prepare the sauce. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Cook the mushrooms. Preheat a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil into the pan. Add the mushrooms, leveling them to a single layer, if possible. Allow them to cook undisturbed for 2 minutes. Mix the mushrooms occasionally and cook for another 3 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Drain any mushroom sweat, then dish up. Wipe down the pan.
- Time to cook the beef. Add 2 tablespoons of oil into the wiped pan. Add the beef (save any of the marinade), ensuring all pieces touch the pan*. Allow them to cook undisturbed for about 1 minute. Quickly flip the beef slices and allow them to cook undisturbed for 30 more seconds. At this point, the beef may not appear to be cooked through. That is okay. Transfer the beef to a bowl.
- Now for the veggies. Turn the heat down to medium high. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil into the pan. Add the green beans. Allow them to cook undisturbed for 1 minute. Mix and allow them to cook undisturbed for 1 more minute. Season lightly with salt. Add the bell pepper, red onion, mushrooms, garlic, green onion, and 1 more tablespoon of cooking oil. Stir-fry for 1 minute if you like your veggies more raw, 2 minutes if you like your veggies softer.
- Put it all together. Add the sauce, beef, and any remaining beef marinade into the pan and mix, mix, mix for 1 more minute. Turn off heat and dish up! Best when paired with a bowl of hot and steamy rice and other sides.
Notes
*Don’t overcrowd the meat. Each strip of beef deserves the opportunity to brown. If necessary, cook some pieces in another batch.
Preparation is key to making this dish. There is no downtime once you start cooking, so have everything ready to go before turning on the stove.
Keywords: Beef, Stir Fry, One Pot Cooking
