Hunan beef is a popular, savory, and spicy Chinese take-out dish. Made with thinly sliced steak stir-fried in a garlic and pepper sauce with colorful vegetables. The Hunan province is known to have a wide variety of produce, so an assortment of your favorite vegetables can be used!
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Instructions
Combine 2 tablespoon water, ½ teaspoon cornstarch, and 2 teaspoon oyster sauce in a medium bowl. Add the cut 1 lb flank steak into strips and gently work the marinade into the beef—marinade in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Dredge your marinated beef in the second portion of ⅓ cup cornstarch. Set lightly coated beef aside.
Combine the 2 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, ½ tablespoon fresh ground black pepper, 2 tablespoon soy sauce, and ¼ cup Shaoxing wine. Set aside.
Add the ⅓ cup vegetable oil to your wok and bring to high heat, until smoking. Sear the beef in small batches. Cook until browned and beginning to get crispy, then push up out of the well of the wok onto the sides to drain excess oil. Transfer to a plate or sheet pan and repeat until all of the beef is cooked.
After the beef has been cooked, remove any residue from the remaining oil. Reserve about 2 tablespoons worth of cooking oil in the wok for stir-frying the rest of the ingredients.
Heat the wok and oil over medium heat. Add the dried 8 Thai chile peppers and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the sliced 1 lb asparagus and fry for about one minute.
Add the garlic sauce, stir, and fry for about 1 minute. Return cooked beef and add the grated 1 large carrot to the wok and cook over high heat for 1-2 minutes, or until asparagus is your desired level of tenderness and most of the sauce has cooked off.
Notes
Whatever beef you choose, cut against the grain to yield tender cooked portions of beef.
If you don't have Shaoxing wine, you can use rice wine but the flavor will end up being a bit lighter. The Shaoxing wine has a deep, rich flavor that will add to the salty, bold flavor of the Hunan beef.
Allow your meat to have at least 30 minutes to marinate. However, you can leave it in the fridge overnight as well!