Remembering That Restaurant
In our never-ending hunt for hidden-gem Chinese restaurants that specialize in regional cuisines, we’ve had several favorites over the years, including a Shanghainese restaurant on Route 46 in Jersey (long since closed) incongruously named, “Hunan Cottage.” It wasn’t until I fully understood the nuances of Chinese regional cooking that I questioned why the restaurant was labeled, “Hunan,” a province whose spicy, chili-laden cuisine couldn’t be more different from the sweet and otherwise mild character of the Shanghainese specialties that constituted 99% of their menu. This stir-fried beef with peppers and bamboo shoots was perhaps their one dish that could claim to be in the style of Hunan cooking. It was delicious enough to warrant the “Hunan” label on its own! When we all declared that this recipe took us back to “the Cottage,” as we called it, we knew we’d gotten it right.
On Bamboo Shoots
In this recipe, I’m using canned julienned bamboo shoots, which you can find in Chinese grocery stores. If all you can find are the canned bamboo shoots that are in the shapes of little rectangles, those will work too! You can just stack them a few high and julienne them to get the shape we’re looking for in this recipe. This dish is a great example of how in a Chinese stir-fry, you often cut ingredients in similar shapes so that you can get all of said ingredients in one grab of your chopsticks, as well as all those textures in one bite.
On Peppers
We’re using long hot green peppers here, which can be found in most grocery stores (at least where we live). They are long, thin-skinned, and range in spiciness from mild to hot (it really depends on the batch you get. Sometimes, they’re labeled “Italian sweet peppers.” Just note that they must be julienned, blanched for a few minutes in boiling water, and rinsed under cold water before stir-frying. The blanching neutralizes a potentially poisonous compound and removes the bitterness from the bamboo. (Canned and frozen bamboo have already been boiled, so there’s no need for additional preparation. If you want to make this dish milder, you could use cubanelles or a mix of cubanelles and long hots.
Recipe Instructions
Thinly slice the flank steak against the grain, and then cut those slices lengthwise into thin strips. (This is easier to do when the meat is partially frozen.) While waiting on it, prep out your other ingredients. Once you start cooking, this dish comes together really fast! In a medium bowl, add the strips of flank steak, water, cornstarch, oil, oyster sauce, and light soy sauce. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate at room temperature. Place your wok over high heat until it’s almost smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and tilt the wok to spread it evenly around its perimeter. Add the beef in 1 layer, and let it sear for 30 to 40 seconds without moving, then stir- fry for another 30 to 40 seconds, until the beef is browned but still a bit rare. Remove the beef from the wok and set aside. Let the empty wok heat again over high heat, and add the remaining tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and peppers. Stir-fry for 20 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine to deglaze the wok. After another 20 seconds, add the bamboo shoots. Add the beef back to the wok, along with any residual beef juices. Add the salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Increase the heat to high, and stir-fry for another minute. Serve with steamed rice.
