Stir-Fried Beef and Green Chilies

Qing Jiao Niurou Si (青椒牛肉丝)

Tender slivers of beef are stir-fried with super-aromatic green chilies, mega-spicy red chilies, and ultra-fresh young ginger in this classic home style dish.

Stir-Fried Beef and Green Chilies is a quick and easy dish that utilizes high-quality cuts of beef and fresh, flavorful ingredients. With only a few core ingredients, this is one of the easiest stir-fry dishes to master, and is, therefore, a staple home style dish. Actually, in Chinese, this style of dish is often referred to as ‘countryside’ cooking (农家菜), because of its simplicity, bold flavors, and popularity in rural areas.

There’s no need to velvet the beef or even to add cornstarch in the following recipe. With quality beef tenderloin (preferably filet mignon) and proper cooking technique, the slivers of beef will stay quite tender and absorb plenty of flavor from the chilies and aromatics. The beef is cooked for a short period of time at a relatively lower heat than many other stir-fry dishes. Doing so, preserves the meat’s tenderness. Tenderloin does have a somewhat pale color when it’s cooked, so I recommend adding just dash of Dark Soy Sauce in the marinade to slightly darken the color of the beef.

The following recipe is made in the style of Zigong City cuisine, and specifically that Fushun County, which tends to utilize lots of fresh chilies paired with young ginger (仔姜). While I prefer to use spicy long green chilies (二荆条), other less spicy long green chilies or even green bell peppers can be used. A common variation of this dish is Filet Mignon with Green Peppers (尖椒牛柳), which uses a slightly less spicy green pepper instead of the standard green chilies. Unlike with many other Zigong City style dishes, Stir-Fried Beef and Green Chilies doesn’t feature a lot of aromatics such as garlic and ginger. The flavor of the beef is so rich and the flavor of the chilies so aromatic that an abundance of aromatics becomes rather unnecessary.

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Total Time: 20 min

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

300 – 400 g. Beef Tenderloin (牛里脊; OR preferably Filet Mignon 牛柳)

Marinade
5 Pickled Red Chilies
1 tsp. Sichuan Chili Bean Paste
1 tsp. Light Soy Sauce
1 tsp. Shaoxing Rice Wine
1/4 tsp. Dark Soy Sauce (Optional; For Color)
1/4 tsp. Salt (Optional)
1/4 tsp. Ground White Pepper
4 Tbsp. Peanut Oil

Chilies
8 – 10 long, thin Green Chilies (二荆条)
4-inch block of Young Ginger (仔姜)
5 – 10 Fresh Red Chilies

Peanut Oil

Seasonings
2 tsp. Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Ground White Pepper

Directions

1.) Wash off the Beef. Cut the Beef into 1/2-inch-thick slices and then cut the slices into long 1/2-inch-thick strips resembling the thickness of chopsticks. Place the strips of Beef into a large bowl.

2.) Mince the Pickled Red Chilies and add them to the Beef along with the rest of the Marinade ingredients (Chili Bean Paste, Light Soy Sauce, Rice Wine, Dark Soy Sauce, Salt, and White Pepper). Mix the Marinade thoroughly and then add about 4 Tbsp. of Peanut Oil, which will prevent the Beef from sticking when stir-frying. Allow the Beef to rest for at least 10 minutes.

3.) Cut off the tops of the Green Chilies and then thinly slice each Green Chili on a bias (45-degree angle down the length of the chili). Set these slices aside in a large bowl.

4.) Thinly slice the Young Ginger and then julienne the slices into thin slivers. Add the slivers to the bowl of Green Chilies.

5.) Finely slice the Fresh Red Chilies on a bias and add these to the bowl of Green Chilies.

6.) Add about 1/4 cup of Peanut Oil to a seasoned wok and heat on high until nearly smoking. Pull the wok away from heat, add the Beef strips, and stir-fry just a few seconds to separate the pieces.

7.) Return the wok to heat and stir-fry the Beef strips quickly for just a few seconds to develop the color.

8.) Immediately, pull the wok away from heat and quickly add the bowl of Chilies along with all of the Seasonings (Soy Sauce, Salt, and White Pepper).

9.) Return the wok to heat and stir-fry for a few more seconds just until the Green Chilies have softened slightly and everything is mixed thoroughly.

 

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