Beef Paprika Saute is an easy stir-fry dish consisting of ground beef and bell peppers. In many recipes, onions and tomatoes are also added, and you can make this dish with or without gravy. Here's how to make a simple variation of this dish.
Ingredients
'Makes 4 servings
- 450 g pork belly (flank steak)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) rice wine
- 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp (5 ml) sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) corn flour
- 2 medium bell peppers
- 1 medium size yellow onion
- 12 cherry tomatoes, if not use 2 regular tomatoes
- 1 cup (250 ml) beef gravy (optional)
- Cooking oil
Step
Method 1 of 3: Preparing the Beef
Step 1. Slice the pieces of meat
Slice the meat lengthwise with a thickness of 0.635 cm, with the direction of the cut crossing the grain of the meat fiber (perpendicular to the direction of the meat fiber).
- If the resulting slice is still longer than the size of a single bite, divide it into two shorter slices.
- The grain of the meat refers to the direction of the grain of the meat, and can be seen by examining the ends of the fine lines on your cut. Cutting in the direction of the grain of the meat (in the direction of the grain) will result in tough, long-grain cuts of meat, while cutting across the grain (perpendicular to the grain) will result in a more tender cut of meat.
- If you can't find a belly cut, try looking for a top sirloin, beef round (thigh), or chuck (shoulder) instead. Cutlets labeled "swissing beef" can also be used.
Step 2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine, and minced garlic
Mix these five ingredients together in a large bowl with a tight lid. Keep stirring until the cornstarch thickens the spice mixture.
- If you don't have rice wine, you can also use rice wine vinegar, dry sherry wine, or one for cooking sherry.
- If you don't have minced garlic, you can also use 1/4 tsp (1 ml) of garlic powder instead.
Step 3. Let the pieces of meat soak in the spices
Place the cutlets in a bowl of seasonings and stir gently to coat. Leave it for 10 to 30 minutes.
- The seasoning liquid should be just enough to cover the pieces of meat.
- Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator while the meat pieces are soaked in the spices.
Method 2 of 3: Preparing Vegetables
Step 1. Divide the onion into lengthwise slices
Use a serrated knife to cut the onion into thin slices. You can also cut them into boat-shaped pieces as if you were chopping tomatoes or oranges.
- If you prefer a less spicy taste, you can reduce the number of onions by half instead of one.
- Remove the base and tip of the onion. If a layer of the onion comes off when you cut one end of the onion, peel the layer off. If it doesn't peel off easily, you may need to slide your fingernail under the layer to loosen and peel it off.
- Cut the onion in half from top to bottom, then halve again in the same direction.
- Make several wedges, starting at the center of each boat piece. Do this for each quarter of the onion until all that's left are layers of sliced onions. This layer should break and decompose naturally as the slices are moved.
Step 2. Cut the peppers
Use a sharp knife to cut the peppers into 2.5 cm lengths.
- Use one green pepper and one red bell pepper.
- Cut into each of the bell peppers without separating the slices from the center of the peppers. Notice where the overhanging part of the pepper starts on the inside of the top, near the stem. Start each slice from this starting point, but don't slice all the way to the bottom of the stem. Cut straight down from the top to the bottom, removing the bottom of each slice but not the top.
- Once everything is sliced, use your hands to gently remove all the slices from the center of the peppers. The seeded portion of the pepper, which is located just below the stem, should not come off. This way, only a few seeds should be removed from your sliced peppers. Remove the seeds from the peppers and continue to finish chopping the peppers.
- Cut each pepper slice into 2.5 cm long strips. You may need to divide the sliced peppers in half first so you can divide them again into smaller, more uniform pieces.
Step 3. Cut the tomatoes in half
Cut each tomato in half using a sharp knife.
You can also cut large tomatoes into cubes or use a drained can of 283.5 gram (310 ml) diced tomatoes
Method 3 of 3: Cooking Paprika Beef Saute
Step 1. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 ml) of cooking oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat.
- Use an oil with a high smoke point, such as grapeseed, safflower, or canola oil. Regular vegetable oil can also be used if there is no other option.
- A cast iron or copper concave skillet is great for this dish, but if you don't have one, any heavy pan with a diameter of at least 25 cm will work as well.
Step 2. Cook the beef
Put the beef that has been marinated in the spices into the pan and stir until it is browned and cooked.
- Stir the meat or gently shake the pan regularly to ensure even cooking.
- Cooking this thinly sliced beef will only take a few minutes, but you may need to cook the beef in stages if your skillet is too small to allow each piece of meat to touch the bottom of the pan.
Step 3. Set aside the beef
Transfer the beef to a plate or bowl. Set aside and keep warm.
Pour the fat or oil from the pan before continuing
Step 4. Cook the peppers and onions
Add another 1 tbsp (15 ml) of cooking oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the bell peppers and onions, and sauté until they are soft but still crunchy.
Stir in peppers and onions constantly for 3 or 4 minutes. The peppers should start to feel soft and the onions should start to become translucent
Step 5. Return the beef to the pan
Once the peppers and onions are cooked through, return the beef to the skillet and stir quickly to combine with the peppers and onions.
Step 6. Add the gravy, if desired
For a more moist and juicy paprika steak, add 250 ml of the prepared beef gravy. Pour the gravy into a saucepan and heat it.
- The maximum heating time is 1 or 2 minutes.
- Many recipes for sautéed beef peppers don't include the addition of beef gravy, but if you're someone who likes gravy stir fry, beef gravy is an easy and great choice.
Step 7. Add the tomatoes
Just before turning off the heat, add the tomatoes to the skillet and heat it up.
- Tomatoes should be cooked no more than 30 seconds before you remove the pan from the stove.
- Make sure you mix the tomatoes evenly as they cook.
- Tomatoes can be added whether you add gravy or not.
Step 8. Serve warm
Take the sautéed beef peppers from the skillet and serve warm over hot rice.
- You can use almost any type of rice you want, including white rice, brown rice, or fried rice.
- You can also serve sautéed beef peppers over thin spaghetti noodles, egg noodles, or vermicelli.
What you need
- Smooth and serrated blade
- Cutting board
- Big bowl with lid
- Heavy and big skillet
- Container or plate for heating
- Heat-resistant spatula for stirring stir fry
- Serving bowl or plate
