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Beef and Green Pepper {Qing Jiao Rou Si}

A classic Huai Yang Style Stir Fry

by Shirley
Published: Last Updated on
Beef Slices with Green Pepper

Beef and Green Pepper Slices Stir-Fry (Qing Jiao Niu Rou Si 青椒牛肉丝) is a well-liked everyday dish in China. It features juicy and delicious beef slices, coupled with flavorful green pepper slices. Green pepper genuinely complements the meat perfectly. An excellent choice for a rice bowl.

Ingredients for Beef Slices with Green Pepper Stir-Fry:

Steak: top round, top sirloin or flank steak shall all work out well. I use an unique effective way of tenderize the beef.

how to prepare and tenderize beef for cooking?
how to prepare and tenderize beef for cooking?

Green Pepper: Green bell pepper, banana pepper, poblano pepper, shishito pepper, and Chinese/Korean long green pepper are all wonderful choices, as long as they are green.

There must be some special substances in the green peppers that other peppers do not have. Because non-green-colored peppers just do not produce the same deep, super delicious flavor with the meat as green peppers do.

As for what kind of green peppers work best for stir-frying with meat, peppers that have thin and crunchy skin are a superb choice. Korean/Chinese long sweet pepper and cubanelle peppers are among the wonderful options.

If you can handle heat or spicy food, the spicy green pepper work even better. The additional spiciness elevates the taste of the dish to another level.

Naturally Aged Soy Sauce vs. Light Soy Sauce

Dark vs. light soy sauce is a modern time Cantonese creation. For light soy sauce, people extract light soy sauce from the soy sauce brewing process as early as 30 days. Therefore, they are not aged, have a lighter color, and are much saltier compared to aged soy sauce. They become popular in flavoring the food.

You can substitute natural or aged soy sauce with dark soy sauce.

Other Ingredients for Sliced Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry

Gluten-free StarchArrowroot flour is my go-to gluten-free superfood starch. It helps tenderize the meat.

Baking Soda – a pinch of baking soda mixed with beef in the presence of water helps tenderize the beef. A trick Chinese cooks often use.

Sugar – add a pinch of sugar to marinate the beef and helps flavor and tenderize the beef.

Salt and Black PepperHimalayan pink salt is my go-to salt besides sea salt. If possible, use freshly ground black pepper.

Ginger and Green OnionsGinger is a tasty & healthy herb, frequently used in Chinese-style cooking. Try to get organic ginger if possible. They are smaller with a golden yellow hue and a much deeper pleasant aroma. I use green onions here together with ginger to stir-fry with beef slices to provide an extra fragrant flavor.

How to make Beef Slices with Green Pepper Stir-Fry tender and delicious

Juicy and tasty beef is the key to this dish. How to make the beef tender and tasty? Three tricks and tips to talk about:

The First is to marinate the beef properly beforehand

Marinated Beef Slices
Marinated Beef Slices

You will need baking soda, Shaoxing wine, naturally aged soy sauce {Jiang You}, sugar, arrowroot flour, and cooking oil, such as canola oil or avocado oil, to help marinate the beef. Read here for more details.

The Second is to brown/sear the beef slices in a small batch

For a 12-inch fry pan, I would sear or brown about half a pound of beef at a time.

Because we have marinated the beef with plenty of oil, plus we are using a quality no-stick fry pan, you do not need to add much oil at all for searing the beef, 1 tsp is all your need.

Turn the heat to medium-high and heat a non-stick frypan for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp cooking oil, ginger slices, and chopped green onions along with the marinated beef slices nto the frying pan. Quickly separate the beef slices using a pair of cooking chopsticks or a pair of kitchen tongs, stir fry for about 3 minutes, or till they are almost fully cooked.

Beef Slices
Sear Beef Slices in a Small Batch

The Third is to prepare a tasty Stir Fry Sauce using simple ingredients

A splash of light soy sauce and a pinch of black pepper is all you need.

Beef Stir Fry Sauce
Beef Stir Fry Sauce

Like Traditional Chinese Food made easy, healthy, and tasty? Make sure you check out these delicious food recipes:

Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry {Qing Jiao Niu Rou Si}

Beef and Green Pepper Stir Fry {Qing Jiao Rou Si 青椒牛肉丝} Recipe

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Beef Slices with Green Pepper stir-fry (Qing Jiao Niu Rou Si 青椒牛肉丝) is a well-liked everyday dish in China. It features juicy and delicious beef slices, coupled with flavorful green pepper slices. Green pepper genuinely complements the meat perfectly. An excellent choice for a rice bowl.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb steak, top round, sirloin, or flank, see notes
  • 1 lb green pepper, see notes

For Marinating the Beef:

  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing Wine
  • 1/2 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce or dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar
  • 1/8 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred
  • 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil, such as avocado oil or canola oil

For Searing/Browning the Beef:

  • 1 small piece of ginger, about 8 g, thin-sliced, organic preferred
  • 1 green onion stalk, chopped

For Stir Fry Sauce :

  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

Marinating the Beef and Prepare Green Pepper:

  • Cut the steak across the grain into thin slices, a little under 1/4 inch will be great.
    Cut Beef across the grain into thin slices
  • Cut across again into thin julienne cut slices. Soak them in cold water in a mixing bowl for about 10 minutes.
    Rinse Beef Slices
  • While waiting, prepare green pepper. Wash the green pepper, trim the stems and remove the inner seeds. Cut into thin julienne cut slices.
  • Rinse the beef slices under the cold water a few times to get rid of the trapped blood. Gently squeeze the beef to remove the extra water. Add 1/8 tsp baking soda into the mixing bowl, and toss using a pair of bamboo spatulas, the same way you toss a salad.
    Marinate Beef Slices for Stir-Fry
  • Add ingredients under the "For Marinating the Beef", Shaoxing wine, naturally aged soy sauce, Zhenjiang vinegar, salt, and sugar. Mix and toss well. Then add arrowroot flour, and mix well. Last is to add 1 tbsp canola oil and mix well. Set aside.
    Marinated Beef Slices
  • Make the Stir Fry Sauce: add the 3 tbsp light soy sauce and 1/4 tsp black pepper in a small bowl, whisk well using a mini whisk.
    Beef Stir Fry Sauce
  • Slice or mince ginger and cut green onion into small pieces.

Sear the Beef Slices:

  • Turn the heat to medium-high, heat a 12-inch non-stick Fry-Pan for 1 minute, and spray about 1 tsp oil using a homemade oil sprayer, ginger slices, and chopped green onions, along with the marinated beef slices.
  • Quickly separate the beef slices, stir fry for about 3 minutes to sear both sides, or till beef slices are almost fully cooked. Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside.
    Beef Slices
  • Spry another 1 tsp oil into the frying pan, add the green pepper slices and stir-fry for about 3 minutes until wilt or fragrant.
    Green Pepper Slices Stir Fry
  • Add the cooked beef slices back into the pan, fold, and mix, and then pour the Stir Fry sauce from the small bowl in a circular motion. Scrape the mixing bowl clean using a mini silicone spatula if needed. Fold and mix with green pepper for about 1 minute.
  • All done! Serve hot with rice, steamed buns, or Chinese-style stir-fry noodles.
    Beef Slices with Green Peppe4r Stir-Fry {青椒牛肉丝}

Notes

  • For steak, top round, top sirloin, or flank steak shall all work out well. I use a uniquely effective way of tenderizing the beef.
  • For green peppers: banana pepper, poblano pepper, shishito pepper, Chinese/Korean long green pepper are all wonderful choices, as long as they are green. If you can handle heat or spicy food, the spicy green pepper work even better. The additional spiciness elevates the taste of the dish to another level.

Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 353Total Fat 24gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 75mgSodium 1540mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 2gSugar 4gProtein 23g

Nutrition calculation is provided by Nutritionix to the best knowledge per ingredients description and isn't always accurate.

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