Hunan Beef

Foodie Lit

Hunan Beef is a fantastic spicy beef and vegetable dish. Usually, a variety of peppers, spicy and sweet are used. I added other colorful vegetables for taste and a pretty presentation. The beef, after marinating several hours, is flavorful and tender.

Hunan Beef is usually spicy but the great thing about home-cooking is that you can add as much or as little as fits your tastes. Try the recipe with chicken, tofu or tempe—absolutely yummy as well. Serve over rice or rice noodles. Recipe is below.

Review & Recipe

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Hunan Beef

Serves 4

Stir Fry

1/2 pound beef

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 carrot, sliced lengthwise and then sliced thinly on the diagonal

2 stalks celery, sliced thinly on the diagonal

1 crown broccoli, thick stalk cut off and then florets sliced thinly

1 small onion, chopped

2 teaspoons to 1 Poblano pepper, minced (Use less, if you want less heat.)

Light cooking oil

Beef marinade

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

2 tablespoons Marin

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon corn starch

A few grinds of pepper

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Slice the beef thinly. If you have trouble, try putting beef into freezer for about 15 minutes and this will make slicing easier. Mix ingredients for marinade in container with a lid. Add beef and mix together. Marinate beef in refrigerator for 1-3 hours.
Prep vegetables.
Place a colander over a bowl.
Place wok or large skillet over a medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil. When warmed, add vegetables one kind at a time and stir fry for 3-4 minutes, adding extra oil as needed. Remove each batch of vegetables from wok and place in colander. This drains extra oil off.
Add beef in small batches to wok. Stir until browned, adding batches until done.
Add vegetables into wok and stir all together.
Serve over your favorite kind of rice.

Expandthetable suggestions

Vegan: Use tofu or tempe in place of beef.

Chicken: Thinly slice 1/2 pound boneless chicken.

Other veggies: Use in place of veggies in recipe or in addition to- mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, green bell pepper or eggplant

Heat: Use the amount of poblano pepper to create the spiciness you desire. Add up to one full pepper for greater heat.