Howdy Folks! 😊

In my opinion, there’s no better way to deal with the left over bits and pieces of vegetables and things that remain in the fridge, than to make a stir fry. Throw them all together in a pan, add a protein and voila! 😁

Now, that’s not to say you cannot go the extra mile and , make a stir fry extra special. In fact, I did exert effort on this one and here is the final result 😊. I really do love Chinese food, and feeling that inspiration, went ahead and made this beautiful beef stir fry. A few tips came in handy, but importantly, the use of Bicarbonate of soda and cornstarch. You’ll find the reason in the recipe below.

Do give this a shot and let me know how it goes! 😉

Beef Stir Fry

Recipe by LubayaCourse: MainCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

500g Beef strips
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Fish sauce (or Vinegar if not available)
1 Teaspoon Black pepper
Salt, to taste
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch or cake flour
2 cloves Garlic, grated
1/2 Teaspoon grated Ginger
Vegetables
200g Carrots
200g Green Beans
200g Baby corn
200g Brown Mushroom
200g Red Pepper
200g Green Pepper
200g Yellow Pepper
200g Red Onion
3 fresh, Red chillies (optional)
Sauce
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 Tablespoon Soy sauce
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 cup of water

Directions

Start by cutting the beef into small even pieces. Traditionally for stir fry, it’s thin, long strips – but you can also do thin squares or rectangles. 😊
Then proceed to season and marinade the beef. In a bowl, combine the beef with the grated ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce (or Vinegar), Bicarbonate of soda. Mix well then add the 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Mix that in as well, then set aside to marinate for 15 minutes. 😊
I learned these 2 tips from Asian cooks who use Bicarbonate of soda to tenderize the beef, while the cornstarch will not only thicken the sauce but give it that lovely, glossy glaze at the end.
While the beef marinates, prepare the vegetables. The good thing with stir fry is you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Make sure they are evenly cut so they are manageable and cook quickly. I find julienning them into strips works perfectly. 😊
Had 3 mushrooms in the fridge so I added those too…
Now to get cooking. 😊
Heat up the oil in a large pan or a Wok, if you have one. The oil should be very hot. Then add the beef to the pan, spread in an even layer. Don’t be tempted to start frying yet, but allow the beef to cook on that side uninterrupted for about 5 minutes till it browns, then you can go in with a cooking stick to fry and turn the beef, to cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. 😊
Once ready, remove from the pan and transfer to a bowl, and set aside.
To the same pan, add the vegetables 2 at a time, beginning with the ones that take the longest to cook. So carrots and green beans went in first. Cooked for 3 minutes. Then added the baby corn and onion. 3 minutes later, added the peppers and mushrooms last. 😊
At this stage, return the beef strips to the pan with the vegetables and combine. Cook everything together for 3 minutes. This is to get the beef to heat through to the temperature of everything else in the pan. 😊
The last stage now is the sauce. 😊 In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients together (soy sauce, water, cornstarch and paprika) into a smooth slurry.
Add the sauce to the pan while stirring. You’ll see it start to thicken up and the idea is to just coat the stir fry in the sauce. It is not to make a ‘gravy’ or ‘soup’ as we normally eat our meats in these parts 😊 .
Cook for not more than 3 minutes, and the dish is done!
This is perfect to serve with Rice, Noodles or potatoes. I went with Spaghetti, being what I felt like eating today. 😊
Enjoy!