Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Szechwan Beef

For years, the hubby has made a lovely Szechwan chicken stir-fry, the secrets of which he might never fully share with me. So I decided to try my hand at a beef version this evening, because I've never tried Szechwan beef.

OK, fine, it was because we had sirloin in the kitchen freezer, and the chicken is very far away, in the garage freezer. And I'm lazy. And the light bulb in the garage just burned out. And I'm not supposed to stand on things while the hubby isn't around, because I'm clumsy. And every time I walk in the garage when it's dark, I dislocate my toe, because I'm clumsy AND I have very fragile baby toes.

I share. I share too much.

Szechwan dishes are typically on the spicier side, and although I've had my share that have made my eyes water and my nose run, this dish (which is from Better Homes and Gardens), is actually on the milder side. You can certainly increase the amount of crushed red pepper flakes, or even add some sriracha or other hot sauce, to amp up the heat.

Szechwan Beef
Serves 4

3 Tbsp. dry sherry
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced.
1 lb. steak, thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, cut in cubes
1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
Cooked rice, for serving

1. Combine the sherry, soy sauce, water, hoisin sauce, cornstarch, ginger, sugar, red pepper flakes, pepper, and garlic in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Put oil in wok and heat over medium-high heat until hot.

3. Add carrots and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add peppers and stir-fry another 1-2 minutes.

4. Remove vegetables from pan and set aside.

5. Add beef and stir-fry 2-3 minutes, or until cooked.

6. Push beef away from center of wok, and add sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and cook and stir sauce until thick and bubbly.

7. Add veggies back to wok, and combine with beef and sauce.

8. Serve over rice.

6 comments:

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

terrific.... on my list to make now

Carla and Michael said...

Ooohh, I love szechwan beef. Looks delicious. I order it often ;D Now I get to try it at home whenever I want.
Thanks.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

Hello Angel... Just finished serving your Szechwan Beef... PERFECT! Will be blogging this soon

angelinthekitchen said...

That's awesome, Dave -- glad you liked it!

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

And as promised... here is the link to my post of your recipe. I did post it as my guest blog on Our Krazy Kitchen (I do a weekly column there).

Thanks again... worked GREAT!

Heather S-G said...

NOM!! I love the glossiness of Asian-ish (my word ;) ) meals!! This looks killer...matter of fact, I totally wish I had a heaping plate of it in front of me this very minute.