Good morning everyone!
Beef Stir Fry today. This is a weekday night favorite. Why? A bunch of reasons: so easy to make, requires few ingredients (basically whatever veggies you have in your fridge), and it’s so crunchy and tasty. This is a go-to-dish especially on those nights that you either come home late (once again) from work or you energy is a bit low from kids, house chores, and so forth. So you are tired, but you are still hungry and you really want to avoid having junk food again, guess what? You reaaally don’t have to. Actually, you can probably make this dish quicker than the time spent waiting for your take out order. Nice. Lets get to it then.
First things first, what kind of beef. Some people go for a nice filet cut. It’s juicy, cooks quickly and is very tender. Who can say no? However, in real life, most people would prefer to savour a nice filet on a special occasion, grilled nicely with just salt n’ pepper. Totally agree. So I felt creative and decided to go for rump steak.
Yes, rump steak, the equivalent of an American sirloin, very flavorful, a bit tougher and with a defined layer of fat on the side. This is a less expensive cut that can produce great results when prepared correctly. Best part, the fat on side is easy to remove. If you can find heart of rump steak, even better.
Rump steak has so much flavor packed in, however it’s not always the first choice because it’s a tougher cut. Solution: you just pound it lightly (if you don’t know how click here). You don’t have a meat tenderizer? Don’t sweat my friends. A simple, wooden, rolling pin works just fine too. After you pound it, cut it in stripes as thick as your thumb. In a bowl, combine meat, with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and fresh ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. Let marinate for 10 mins.
In the meantime prepare your veggies.
Slice up mushrooms, peppers, carrots and onions. Roughly chop ginger and garlic.
Saute the meat in a really hot wok for 8-10 mins. Take the meat out and set aside. I tested the recipe two different ways: searing the meat first separately and then veggies – and – searing meat and veggies at the same time in the same pan. The first method works much better. The beef cooks quickly and becomes brown and crispy. It’s important not to overpack the meat in the pan otherwise it will release lots of juice and braise instead.
When I tested the second method, the food became too soggy. I would only recommend this method if you are cooking for one and you have a wok large enough to fit everything comfortably.
Start with sesame oil, ginger and garlic first for 2 mins.
Then add all the veggies together.
10 mins should be enough. You don’t want them to brown. The veggies should be tender, but still crispy. Add the beef back into the pan and give everything a stir for 2 mins.
Serve the stir fry with noodles or rice. What’s great about this dish is that you can use whatever vegetables you’ve got in your fridge, anything you like.
Enjoy!
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) Beef cut in stripes
- 2 cups (150 g) red pepper, sliced
- 1 cup (100 g) mushrooms, sliced
- 1 medium red onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup or 2 small carrots, sliced
- 1 cup (80 g) bean sprouts
- 2 tsps. ginger, chopped plus 1 tsp for beef
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped plus 2 cloves for beef
- Sesame oil
- Noodles or rice
DIRECTIONS
Pound the beef lightly (you can use either a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin). Cut it in stripes as thick as your thumb. In a bowl, combine meat, with soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and fresh ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. Let marinate for 10 mins.
Slice up mushrooms, peppers, carrots and onions. Roughly chop ginger and garlic.
Saute the meat in a really hot wok for 8-10 mins. Take the meat out and set aside.
Put some sesame oil, ginger and garlic in the pan for 2 mins. Then add all the veggies together, cook for 10 mins. Add the beef back into the pan and give everything a stir for 2 mins. Serve the stir fry with noodles or rice.
