It’s so happened that while on holiday in Bali recently, our return flight got delayed not once, but twice. When we received the message we were chilling at this café called REVOLVER in Kuta. Bali is one of those places where you don’t mind having your flights delayed. in fact we really didn’t want to leave that island paradise to be honest, but work was waiting in Sydney.
Anyway, as we had more time on our hands, we ordered dinner to go with our cocktails, as our flight was now going to be at 12 midnight. One of the dishes we ordered was Chinese Style Pepper Beef and it was so delicious we ordered more. I used to order this dish every time I go to a Chinese restaurant, and I also used to cook it at home often, but I haven’t been for a long time. I have forgotten how tasty this dish was, I don’t know how it fell off our meal rotation but it’s back on for good. This Chinese Style Pepper Beef Steak is not only delicious but it is also quick and easy to put together.
What you need to make Chinese Pepper Beef
- Choose a cut of beef that’s ideal for quick cooking. I tend to use sirloin, but you can also use skirt or topside. If using a tougher cut of meat, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the beef strips. This will help in tenderising the meat. Slice the beef against the grain for best results.
- This doesn’t require a lot of ingredients. Aside from the beef, you need sliced onions and garlic, sliced capsicum and lots of cracked pepper.
- For the sauce, you need soy sauce, oyster sauce and Mirin or Chinese Cooking Wine like Shiaoxing. If you don’t have mirin, substitute with water and teaspoon of sugar. This can be made gluten-free by using gluten free soy sauce and oyster sauce.
- If you prefer a thicker sauce, add a corn flour slurry( corn flour dissolved on water) towards the end of cooking. I’ve also used the Gravox Pepper Sauce mix, which adds more pepper flavour.
Easy does it…
For something so tasty it is also one of the quickest and easiest to cook.
- Heat cooking oil in the pan until it’s really hot. Sear the beef strips on both sides about 1 minute. If your pan is small, do this in two lots to avoid overcrowding. Transfer the cooked meat to a plate.
- On the same pan, stirfry the sliced onions and garlic about 1 minute. Add the soy, Mirin, and oyster sauce. Then add the beef strips and capsicum and season with plenty of cracked black pepper. Give it one final stir to Mix everything together, then serve straight away with steamed rice.