Chinese pepper steak served with rice
All authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes have two things in common- steak, and peppers. Everything else is up to your preference and innovation.
What Is Chinese Pepper Steak Recipe?
Chinese pepper steak traces its origins to traditional China. The people of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, are famous for their love of dishes with soup. There are sayings in the region that rebuke the idea of making any meat-based meal without including soup. They call this ‘unacceptable.’ The fundamental guidelines of any Fujian cuisine are cooking tender meat, maintaining original tastes of all ingredients, and soup. You will see all these rules in the featured authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes.
The Right Steak to Use
Steak is generally a type of meat cut along the muscle or rib fibers. Steak is either boneless or has one bone attached to the beef. However, the meat makes the larger portion. Contrary to popular belief, steak is not always beef. Steak meat only occurs from the cutting used. Therefore, it can be chicken, lamb or pork steak. But this is a beef dish recipe post, so we shall focus on the beefsteak.
How Do You Ensure the Steak Is Tender Enough?
As mentioned above, authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes thrive on the use of tender meat. To achieve this, you can use some of the following tips.
- Manually make the meat softer using a meat tenderizer
- Marinate the steak overnight using ingredients like vinegar.
- Cut thin slices for maximum heat distribution
- Use low temperature for longer cooking time
- Use salt
- Cut the meat while still in a slightly frozen state. You will get a firmer and more comfortable grip for thin slices.
- Once cut let the meat thaw to room temperature before cooking
Ensure the Steak Is Tender Enough
How Good Is Chinese Pepper Steak?
One great health profit obtained from authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes is the low use of cooking oil. This automatically means lowered cholesterol, thus reduced the chances of diseases such as diabetes. The use of vegetables in the recipes provide vitamins needed for immune boosts. Chinese pepper steak is a high protein dish that is good for people looking to cut down on carbohydrates. Did I mention how flavorful and delicious each of the recipes is?
Now that we have a good idea of what Chinese pepper steak is, let us dive into the following authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes.
1.Stir Fry Chinese Pepper Steak
Stir-fried Chinese pepper steak is an easy dish to prepare. You do not have to spend hours in the market looking for impossible ingredients. As long as you have the steak and bell peppers, you can always make substitutions with the rest. Do not forget to have a marinade. Marinating helps with tenderizing the meat and emphasizing its flavor. Common marinade constituents include vinegar, garlic, lemon, and olive oil.
You can choose to make your marinade or buy a ready-made one. Homemade marinades are cheaper and better since you can alter them to fit your taste. Once you have your ingredients ready, preheat two tablespoons of oil in a wok and top it with the thinly sliced strips of meat. Cook until brown. Add in onions and cook until brown and follow it with tomatoes and bell peppers. Stir the ingredients in the wok for up to 3 minutes until everything is cooked and tender. Serve hot with a side of rice.
Stir Fry Chinese Pepper Steak
2.Mushroom Chinese Pepper Steak
Mushrooms have been the central part of Chinese cuisine since time immemorial. Mushroom pepper steak is among the tastiest of the authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes. The mushrooms add to the savory taste of the beef. You will need stock
cornstarch, garlic, and mushrooms in addition to the onions, meat, and bell peppers. Start by dividing the beef stock into two. Saute garlic and onions in a tablespoon of oil until soft.
Add the mushrooms and continue to stir for a few minutes, then top it with the bell peppers and tomatoes and stir. Remove the vegetable mixture and saute the beef strips in two spoons of oil. Add in the precooked vegetable mixture together with half of the broth. Mix the other half with a spoon of cornstarch, and lastly, add it to the wok. Stir and cook until the soup is thick and bubbly. Serve when hot for the best experience.
Mushroom Chinese Pepper Steak
3.Oyster Sauce Pepper Steak
This recipe focuses on the use of oyster sauce that acts like a soup base for the dish. The method takes about 1 and 20 minutes to prepare and cook. The meat takes at least one hour, marinating for the best results. When one hour is up, the rest of the cooking is easy and fast. Preheat one spoon of oil in a wok and add garlic and onions. Once they are brown, add bell peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables of your choice. Remove the cooked vegetables and set aside. Stir fry the marinated beef in two spoons of oil until well cooked. Add the cooked vegetables and stir to consistency then add the oyster sauce. Among the authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes, this oyster sauce dish is best for seafood lovers.
Oyster Sauce Pepper Steak
4.Crock Pot Chinese Pepper Steak
Of all the authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes, this one takes the longest. However, it has the advantage of holding more food that can go up to six servings. Crockpot pepper steak utilizes low temperature cooking. The dish also very moist thanks to all the stock used. The other difference is the absence of oil.
The ingredients cook by themselves using the heat and broth. Although this recipe takes a long time, it is very effortless. Just add all the ingredients into a crockpot and slowly cook for 5 hours. You can add one spoon of cornstarch mixed with water into the crockpot in the last hour for thick stock. Enjoy this feel good, family meal with a plate of white rice!
Crock Pot Chinese Pepper Steak
5.Oven Chinese Pepper Steak
When you are not in the mood to stand over a hot stove stirring ingredients, you can always choose to use the oven. Although authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes are mainly stir-fry, shaking things up a bit never hurts. This recipe gives you time to multitask while waiting for the meal to cook.
You will only need three ingredients apart from the sauce and marinade. In a baking pan of your choice, line the sides and bottom with oil. Place the onions at the bottom of the pan in one layer, followed by the marinated meat. Cover the beef with the bell pepper strips also in one layer. Finally, pour a layer of sauce over the pan constituents and cover with a foil paper. Cook for one hour in the over at 350 degrees.
Oven Chinese Pepper Steak
Tips For the Best Chinese Pepper Steak Dishes
To make the best of the above authentic Chinese pepper steak recipes use the following tips:
- Minimize the number of extra vegetables added to avoid masking the flavor of the beef.
- Refrigerate the meat when marinating for the best results.
- Use firm peppers and tomatoes to avoid pulpy results.
- Physically stir the pan instead of using a spoon to avoid crushing the ingredients.
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