Chinese-Style Beef with Vegetables

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   For this recipe you'll want soft, tender beef tenderloin — the quality of the meat makes or breaks the whole thing. Rinse the beef, pat it dry, and cut it into small squares.

2. Step 2:

   

   Put the beef in a bowl to marinate. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Stir and set aside to marinate briefly.

3. Step 3:

   

   Wash the bell peppers and cut them into large squares. Ideally use yellow, red, and green — the trio looks perfect in the finished dish. Mine happened to be a different variety of green pepper.

4. Step 4:

   

   Peel the onion. Cut it like this: halve it, then cut each half into three, and again into three crosswise — you'll get about nine even squares from each half.

5. Step 5:

   

   Wash and peel the ginger root, then cut it into fine matchsticks.

6. Step 6:

   

   Peel the garlic, smash it with the flat of your knife, and mince it finely.

7. Step 7:

   

   Make the sauce. In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of starch (potato or corn both work), the water, the remaining soy sauce, the rice vinegar (apple cider vinegar works as a substitute), and the sugar. Stir well until the sugar dissolves.

8. Step 8:

   

   Now coat the beef pieces in starch. I pour the starch into a plastic bag, add the beef, seal it tightly, and shake until every piece is evenly coated.

9. Step 9:

   

   Heat vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or any deep-sided pan. Once it's good and hot, add the beef to fry.

10. Step 10:

    

    Fry the meat until cooked through, then set it on a paper towel to drain off the excess oil.

11. Step 11:

    

    Add a little more oil to the pan. Heat it and briefly fry the garlic and ginger for a minute or two.

12. Step 12:

    

    Add all the peppers and onion to the pan. Stir-fry for a few minutes just until slightly softened. In Chinese cooking, vegetables are cooked only lightly — not all the way through — to keep their nutrients and crunch.

13. Step 13:

    

    Pour in the sauce you made earlier and bring it to a boil. It should thicken at this point. Add a little more salt to taste if needed.

14. Step 14:

    

    Finally, add the drained beef back to the pan, stir everything together well, and let the meat heat through for a few minutes. Your sweet-and-sour beef is ready! Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.