Black Pepper Beef Canadian-Style – Sybaritica

Black Pepper Beef features mushrooms and zucchini stir-fried together in a sour sweet sauce that includes Pepper, Chinese Black Vinegar and Shaoxing Wine

Servings: 4 as part of a Chinese Meal

• 1/2 lb. Beef sliced in 3” strips;
• 1 cup Zucchini in 3” batons;
• 1 small can Button Mushrooms;
• 1 pinch Salt;
• 1 tsp. Cornstarch;
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Oil;
• 2 tsp. Black Peppercorns;
• 1 tbsp. each of Sugar Chinese Black Vinegar, Soy Sauce and Shaoxing Wine;
• 1 tsp. Sesame Oil;
• ½ tsp. Sichuan Pepper Oil optional.

• Mix the strips of beef with the salt and cornstarch and then stir in the vegetable oil.
• Coarsely grind or crush the peppercorns.
• Mix together the remaining flavoring ingredients to make the sauce and set aside.
• Heat a cup or two of oil in your wok over moderate heat and then gently deep-fry the beef strips until they just turn color and remain soft and slightly raw at the center. Remove the strips to a bowl for the moment.
• Drain the oil from your wok, leaving a tablespoon or so and turn up the heat to high. Add the mushrooms and quickly sauté until they brown nicely.
• Now add the zucchini and stir-fry for a moment or two. As soon as they just start to soften, add the sauce ingredients and continue to stir while allowing the sauce to bubble away.
• When the sauce is reduced almost to a glaze, add the beef and cook, stirring briskly, until it is just cooked through.