Beef Orange and Bell Pepper Stir-fry
The shops seem to have lots of offers on meat where it’s 3 different packets for ~ €10, often weighing about 300-400g each. It’s a good deal. I recently bought 3 300g packets of beef minute steaks. I used one to make a Shepherds Pie. It was fine but the sliced steak was a little tougher than I expected. So I wanted to marinate the rest of the beef before cooking to make sure it would be nicely tender.
So this recipe is great for using on some cheaper cuts. I did read a bit online about using baking soda to “velvet” the beef. I have yet to try this. But I think it works best with beef you can slice very thinly. And for me, minute steaks are not really thick enough to slice thinly? In any case, vinegar and/or alcohol work great to tenderise meat.
I left the sliced beef to marinate for two hours in a covered container on the countertop for 2 hours and it was nicely tender when cooked.
The alcohol here is optional. I like the taste of it in the stir-fry and I think it adds something to the sauce. But I also want some recipes, other than my sherry trifle that uses cream sherry. Because an opened bottle of sherry only stays good for a couple of months. Dry sherry can have a shorter opened shelf life. So I think I might need to add a few more recipes with dry or cream sherry as optional additions.
I didn’t have any carrots to hand when I made this so I haven’t included them in the recipe below. But if you love carrots – like I do – I would recommend adding in some sliced carrots when you add in the onions.
Ingredients
- 600g lean beef, cut into strips
- 2 medium sized onion, peeled & chopped
- 3 large bell pepper, topped, deseeded & chopped
- 1 orange, zest & juice
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dry or cream sherry, optional
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, or 1 tsp Paprika & ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
- 1 tsp gluten-free oyster sauce
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 1 tin (140g drained) water chestnuts, optional, slice if using
- 1 tin (140g drained) bamboo shoots, optional
- ½ tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
Instructions
- You will probably want to use disposable gloves for this. If not, be sure to wash your hands really well afterwards to avoid accidentally getting spicy stuff in your eyes. Place the beef in a bowl or container. Sprinkle the zest of an orange, Aleppo pepper, ground ginger, one grated garlic clove, and a good pinch of freshly ground black pepper over the beef. Massage the spices well into the beef strips. Pour over 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, a teaspoon of oyster sauce, half the orange juice, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, and half a tablespoon of sherry. Mix it all together well. Cover and leave on the countertop for at least 30 minutes, or you can cover and leave it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan. If you prefer to have the bell peppers crunchy, quickly fry them first for a couple of minutes, place them on a plate, and add them back in before you thicken the sauce. They will retain a more vibrant colour this way. Alternatively, you can let them cook for a few minutes in the cooking juices later. Their colour will be softer and so will their texture, but sometimes I prefer them this way. Add the onions with a sprinkle of salt and quickly fry for a few minutes, letting them brown and caramelise a little. Next, add the beef and fry until it has browned all over and there is no pink or red left. Stir in one grated clove of garlic. Turn the heat down to moderate and cover the pan. Let it cook for 5 minutes; this allows the cooking juices to release and stay in the pan rather than evaporating. Add the chopped peppers now if you haven’t already fried them. Turn the heat to high. Stir in a tablespoon of soy sauce, the remaining orange juice, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, half a tablespoon of sherry (if using), and the tomato purée. Mix well. Stir in the sliced water chestnuts and bamboo shoots, if using. Again, mix well and let cook for a couple of minutes. If you fried the peppers earlier, add them back in now.
- Take two tablespoons of the sauce from the wok and place them in a small bowl or cup. Blend in the cornflour to make a smooth slurry. Pour the slurry back into the pan and stir well. Let the sauce boil and thicken—it should only take a minute or two. Turn off the heat. Stir in a good pinch of sugar. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
- To let the flavours shine, it’s important to let the dish cool for 15 minutes or so before serving. This leaves a nice amount of time to make the sides. This goes great with boiled rice and steamed veg.
