Beef Stir Fry With Tomato Puree

February 27, 2013

This easy Beef, Tomato and Peppers Stir-fry dish took a shorter time to cook than to type up the recipe on this blog post. Yes, that's how fast this beef and vegetables entrée was to whip up.

I made a last minute decision to stir fry this the other night for dinner. We were having leftovers of hefty, warm arroz caldo ( a Filipino rice porridge with boiled chicken), but there was a large slab of beef flank steak staring at me from the refrigerator, a holdover from another day's meal. Quickly, my thoughts went back to a good stir fry dish I made a while ago from Pat's "The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook". Off I went to the bookshelves to retrieve this favorite cookbook. I swiftly scanned the ingredient list and I knew I had everything here and now in my kitchen to whip this up. Once the stir fry started in the skillet, I couldn't hold back how scrumptious the aroma of the sizzling beef strips were with the blend of rice wine and soy sauce incorporated in it. Then when I added the onions, celery and bell pepper strips, the flavors got so interesting, it elicited demanding questions of "when do we eat?"

I was right. This was a good dish to do at the last minute.  So what are you waiting for? Start cooking and get dinner going.

Beef, Tomato and Peppers Stir-fry

If you only have a few minutes to make dinner, this is the dish your family will enjoy. I made this quick Beef, Tomato and Pepper Stir-fry as a last minute decision and I was glad I did. This was a recipe I picked up from "The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook" by Pat Tanumihardja. The ingredients were easy to gather from the basic staples I already had in my refrigerator. The whole process of slicing and stir frying took  less than 30 minutes, but the result was a mouth-watering beef and vegetables combination of salty, zesty flavors. What I made here serves 2  if served with rice.

• 1 pound beef flank steak
• 1 Tablespoon rice wine from Asian markets Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 Tablespoon from Asian markets oyster sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon, divided (from Asian markets) soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 medium yellow sliced onion
• 1 medium cored, seeded, sliced into 10 - 12 strips red bell pepper
• 2 stalks trimmed, sliced celery
• 2 medium ripe each cut into wedges tomato
• 2 teaspoons for slurry cornstarch
• 3 Tablespoons for dissolving the cornstarch in water
• 1/2 cup chopped for garnish scallions or green onions
• for serving boiled jasmine white rice

• Slice the beef along the grain, in long 2-inch strips. (The author suggested to handle the beef partially frozen for easier cutting. If beef is fresh, place in the freezer for about 30 minutes).

• In a medium bowl, marinate the beef with the rice wine, oyster sauce, sugar and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce. Cover the bowl and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes, or up to 12 hours.

• Preheat a large wok or skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Add the 1 tablespoon of the oil. In 1 to 2 minutes, the oil will heat up. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant, for about 30 seconds. After flavoring the oil, remove the garlic. Add the onions and stir for 1 minute. Then add the bell pepper strips and celery. Stir fry these till crisp for about 2 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.

• Using the same wok, swirl in the remaining oil and continue to heat over high heat. Divide the marinated meat into 4 batches. Stir-fry one batch for about 2 minutes, then set aside on a plate. Repeat the same process of stir frying in batches with the rest of the beef.

• Return the cooked vegetables to the wok, continuing with the high heat. Add the cooked meat. Mix everything quickly for about 1 minute. You will notice little bubbles form in the liquid part of the mixture. Separately mix the slurry of cornstarch and water in a small bowl to blend. Add the cornstarch slurry to the wok, making sure to coat the meat and vegetables well. Add the tomatoes and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Continue tossing together for 1 minute till all ingredients are incorporated with the slurry and are shiny. Adjust the seasonings according to taste preferred. Garnish with scallions. Serve hot with boiled jasmine white rice.

• RECIPE NOTES: The original recipe suggested the use of 2 teaspoons Chinese salted black beans. You can find these canned, from the Asian markets. The beans add a special salty flavor to the dish. Feel free to use if desired.

• Cook's Comments: The oyster sauce used in this recipe is a common ingredient for Chinese and Asian dishes. This bottled sauce is available from Asian markets and contains soy sauce, oyster extracts, cornstarch, sugar and salt. It gives a thick, rich salty and sweet flavor base to stir fry dishes.

• Hello, Friends! All the images and content on this blog are COPYRIGHT PROTECTED and owned by my media company Besa-Quirino LLC. This means BY LAW y ou are NOT allowed to copy, scrape, lift, frame, plagiarize or use my photos and  recipe content I wrote, on your website,books, films, television shows or videos  without my permission. If you want to republish this recipe or content on another website, video, news article,or media outlets mentioned above please ASK my permission, re-write it in your own words and simply link back to this blog to give proper attribution. It's the legal thing to do. Thank you. Email me at [email protected]

• Disclosure: As a participant in the Amazon Affiliate program, some blog posts contain links to products used in the recipe and sold on Amazon. The price stays the same for the readers who wish to purchase these products on my links. I earn a small commission from Amazon which helps maintain the blog expenses. Thanks in advance for your support.

Reader Interactions

blaircals1981.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.asianinamericamag.com/beef-tomato-and-pepper-stir-fry/

Share this post