By Cat, 10/27/21; image right from Wikimedia
US Beef Cuts
I have about ¾ lb of stir-fry beef sirloin in my freezer (purchased in 2018) that I need to use up, so I decided to try this recipe from food.com (1). But I’ve made some minor changes for my own preferences.
This is best served on rice. My preference is wild rice because white and brown rice are likely contaminated with arsenic – even Organic. My favorite way to prepare wild rice the recipe in the See also section, below.
See also: 1. Beef, Venison, Buffalo and Yak Menu; 2. Wild Rice: Steamed, Long-Cooked Method (second recipe on linked page)
Stir-Fry Beef and Vegetables
This recipe (based on one from food.com (1), with optional veggies from allrecipes.com (2)) serves 4. Because I only have ¾ lb beef, it may only serve 3. My plan is to use the same amount of the other ingredients as in the original recipe.
NOTE: If you don’t plan to serve all 4 servings at the same time, only add the celery, bell peppers, snap peas, carrots and broccoli for the number of servings that will be served; can add all the onion and mushrooms, if desired. Then when you reheat the meat/sauce mix for the other servings, add the appropriate amount of the veggies. This is to keep them from getting overcooked.
Ingredients & Equipment
- Pre-cooked wild rice
- 1 lb lean beef, thinly sliced for stir-fry
- 1⁄4 – 1⁄3 cup Tamari sauce
- 1⁄4 cup sherry or cooking wine
- Veggies (to total about 4 cups):
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger root
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup green onion, sliced
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup celery, sliced diagonally, plus chopped celery leaves
- 10 – 12 large white or Cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks *
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup broccoli florets (+ stems, if desired), sliced *
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup red bell peppers (optional) *
- 1⁄2 – 1 cup sugar snap peas (optional) *
- 1⁄4 cup coconut oil or lard
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch or 2 Tbsp tapioca starch (my preference)
- 1 1⁄2 cups filtered water
- Unrefined sea salt and black pepper, as needed
- Equipment
- Small bowl (to marinate water, starch and sesame oil)
- Medium bowl with lid (to marinate beef)
- wok or wide frying pan
‘* For these veggies, see ‘NOTE” in Method, if not serving all 4 servings at same time.
Method
- Prep: Pre-cook wild rice (see my recipe: Wild Rice: Steamed, Long-Cooked Method).
- Toss beef in bowl with tamari sauce and sherry or cooking wine.
- Cover and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Prep veggies while beef is marinating (see also “NOTE” below):
- Standard veggies:
- Grate ginger root and mince garlic cloves.
- Wash, then slice scallions (green onion, including some of the green parts), celery, and mushrooms; also chop some of the celery leaves, if desired.
- Wash carrot(s), then cut about 2 inches long and ¼ – ½ inch wide.
- Wash broccoli, then slice vertically, about 2 inches long and ¼ – ½ inch wide.
- Optional veggies:
- Wash, then slice red bell peppers vertically, about ½ inch wide
- Wash, then remove stems of snap peas
- Standard veggies:
- Mix water, starch, and sesame oil, and marinate in small bowl
- Drain marinated beef, reserving the marinade.
- Cook: Heat coconut oil in wok or wide frying pan.
- Add garlic and ginger and saute over high heat.
- Add drained beef, and stir fry until meat is brown.
- Add scallions, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, and carrots; also red bell peppers and snap peas, if using.
- NOTE: If not serving all 4 servings at same dinner, prep all the veggies, but only add about ½ – ⅓ of the carrots and bell peppers to help flavor the sauce (don’t add broccoli and snap peas). Save remaining prepped veggies in the fridge for when reheat desired serving(s). This way, they won’t be overcooked.
- Add reserved meat marinade to the marinated water/starch/sesame oil over beef/veggie mix, and steam about 5 minutes.
- Heat to boiling, then cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Adjust seasoning.
- Serve: Spoon each serving over cooked wild rice.
Testing
10/29/21: Made as written except only have ¾ lb beef (sirloin, pre-cut) and had no celery leaves. Prep: Marinated meat in mix of Tamari sauce and sherry for 40 min. Meanwhile, grating the ginger was not easy; I forgot to get some garlic cloves so used commercial granulated garlic. For sliced veggies I used 1⁄2 cup of each: green onion, celery, red bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli florets with bits of stem; and 10 Cremini mushrooms. Did not use snap peas because I didn’t have any. Mixed water, starch, sesame oil to marinate. To cook: Sautéed garlic/ginger mix in coconut oil, then added meat (without the marinade) to brown about 8 min, then added all the veggies. This mix filled my 12″ cast iron pan! While this cooked (about 10 min), I added the beef marinade to the starchy mix, stirring well. When veggies were almost tender, I added the marinade/starchy mix; cooked another 10 min while the sauce thickened. It is so beautiful, with all the colors! (I’d take a photo but my camera isn’t working). Tasted the sauce – needs some salt and pepper. Mmm. Result: This is delicious! And so beautiful! Learnings: Because I’ll only serve one-quarter of this for my first meal, I should not have added all the veggies (although I could add all the onion and mushrooms); rather just enough for one serving. When I reheated the second serving, I added fresh broccoli florets to cook while reheating. I’m glad I did because the original broccoli was too soft; the added broccoli was just right. Next time: I’ll only add about 1/3 of the broccoli, carrot, bell peppers and snap peas (if using) to help flavor the sauce. Then I’ll transfer the servings for each dinner to another pan and add the saved veggies, and cook until done. I’ll refrigerate remaining servings and add veggies when I reheat each.
