Monday, April 20, 2009

Beijing Beef

I was craving Chinese food the other day and figured it would be a great opportunity to try a recipe off of a new blog that my sister found. She called me as soon as she found the Blog Chef site as she knew I would love the types of recipes that were posted. This is the first one I tried and I am thrilled that I did. The beef had a really nice texture after being fried (although not the healthiest option!) and the vegetables were nice and crisp. The sauce had a great flavor but I would probably go ahead and double it (the sauce only) the next time I make it. My husband and I both are big 'sauce' people and when I served it, I wished I had extra to spoon over the rice. One other change-- I was out of green peppers when making it, so I went ahead and used only red. It still tasted just as good, but wasn't quite as colorful! :)

Beijing Beef
1lb steak (sliced into thin strips)
6 tablespoons cornstarch (for dusting)
oil (for frying)

Marinade:
1 egg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Sauce:
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons vinegar
¼ teaspoon crush chili pepper
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Vegetables:
1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
1 medium red bell pepper (diced)
1 medium green bell pepper (diced)
1 medium white onion (sliced)

Cut beef into thin strips . In a bowl or sealable bag combine all marinade ingredients and mix well. Add beef slices and marinate for 15 minutes. While beef in marinating mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate. When the beef is done marinating coat the beef slices with 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Remove any access cornstarch and deep fry (either in a deep fryer or wok) beef slices in batches until floating or golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Add a couple tablespoons of oil to the wok and add minced garlic and stir fry for 10 seconds. Add red and green bell peppers and onions and stir fry for 2 minutes. Remove vegetables and set aside. Pour sauce into the wok and heat until boiling. In a serving dish add beef and vegetables and coat with the sauce.

Source: Blog Chef

10 comments:

  1. This sounds terrific, am wondering .. did you use flank steak .. or what cut?

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  2. I love making chinese food at home. Jaime, my bogging buddy has an amazing beef and broccoli recipe on our blog, check it out because it is GREAT.

    I love the red peppers in the photo, it looks so tenderly delicous!

    Bravo!!

    Your foodie friend,

    Jenifer

    J&J DISH

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  3. I'm really glad you liked his site! I actually had the same question as Donna (regarding wondering what type of meat you used)!?! You know we're HUGE Chinese food fans here, so I'll be anxious to try this "home version"!

    Have a good day!

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  4. Donna and Rachel,

    I actually used Round Steak... only because I had some already in the freezer! With the way it was cooked, it ended up really tender. I would think flank steak would work well also, I just typically have a harder time finding it at an affordable price.

    If you make it with something different, please let me know how it is!

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  5. Jenifer,

    I'm going right now to look for that beef and broccoli recipe-- that's my all time favorite Chinese dish! Sounds so good!

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  6. Hi, found you via SITS. I'm so glad I found your blog. I too have a cooking(and crafting) blog and am always looking for new recipes to try.

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  7. Marin,

    Glad you stopped by! I'm always looking for new dishes to throw it, so I am on my way now to check out your blog. Thanks for letting me know about it!

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  8. I think this looks so good. I love chinese food. Do you think the recipe would work if you just quickly sauted the meat and veggies in the pan without using the marinade and frying...and then added the sauce? I try not to fry things if I can help it.

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  9. Heidi-- I typically try to avoid frying things also. It definitely tastes better, but I try to keep things healthier when I can. I really liked the texture that the meat had prepared this way, but I think it would be just as good with a more traditional stir fry method. It would definitely be a different dish, but I think that it would still be really tasty with the sauce. (I would still double the sauce, though!)

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  10. I had a hard time choosing one of your recipes to link to, but I think some of my readers would like this one! ;-)

    I gave you a "Lovely Blog Award" over on my blog if you want to claim it... :-)

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