I'm a big believer in using meat as a flavoring for a lot of vegetables and this dish is a good example of that. It uses 8 oz of sirloin steak, an average restaurant portion, to serve 6-8 people with mounds of delicious vegetables.
Ingredients
8 oz sirloin steak, sliced thinly
3 small green peppers, sliced thinly
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thinly
4 heads purple pak choi, cut in 2" sections, hold the greens and the stems separately so that you can add them to the wok at different times
large handful of mushrooms, oyster or shiitake, sliced thinly
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs corn starch
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs water
Slice the beef and toss with the salt and corn starch. The corn starch will help the beef to get nice and brown when you fry it and help thicken the sauce that will come later.
Prep all the vegetables. Wash the pak choi extra well because it has a tendency to hold onto dirt, especially down near the base where all of the stems come together. The last thing any of us want is a sandy stir-fry.
Heat your wok (or in a pinch a cast iron pan) over high heat with the oil. When it's screaming hot (but before it bursts into flames, seriously this has happened to me) add half of the beef and stir it constantly for a couple of minutes until it is nicely browned on all sides. Take it out and repeat with the other half of the beef. Remove the beef and return the pan to the heat.
You may need to add a little bit more oil. Cook the onions by themselves for a minute, then add the peppers and continue to stir-fry.
After two minutes add the mushrooms and the stem portions of the pak choi. Just keep stirring.
After another two minutes or so taste the vegetables and cook them longer if they aren't done. Add the beef, pak choi leaves, and the water and stir everything together.
Taste and adjust with salt if needed.
Enjoy
-Matt
