Easy Pepper Steak is a delicious stir-fry dish of tender beef strips, bell peppers, and onions in a flavorful savory sauce.
This simple, budget-friendly, homemade takeout recipe brings the classic flavors of Chinese-American takeout from your stove to your table in less time than it normally takes for delivery!
And it’s pork-free, dairy-free, and made without oyster sauce, so it’s kosher too!
Pepper steak is one of the best Chinese American takeout foods!
This homemade recipes is simple to make and budget-friendly!
And it takes less time than ordering and delivery!
Have alone or make it more filling and have it over rice!
It’s delicious either way!
And beef has nutritional value.
And so do peppers!
A little information about bell peppers
Bell peppers come in different colors, such as green, red, orange, yellow (the most common)…and, believe it or not, white brown, striped, and purple.
Peppers are commonly used in foods, salads, as side dishes, toppings or – if you are like my son – a snack.
Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Spanish explorers brought pepper seeds back to Spain with them in 1943. From Spain, peppers spread from there to Europe and Asia.
Red peppers are actually ripened green peppers and because they do so gradually, you may see peppers that are both green and red at the same time. Red peppers sweeter in flavor than the green, which are more acidic and a little bitter. Red peppers can be used in the production of paprika.
“Permagreen” don’t turn red, but rather stay green even after they ripen.
Orange and Yellow peppers are their own varieties and have a gentle, sweet taste.
Bell peppers contain almost no protein at all and are almost entirely made of water, with a small percentage of carbohydrates. They are rich in vitamins C, B6, K, A, and E as well as some minerals and antioxidants. The different colored peppers contain different vitamins and nutrients, and they are all very low in fat.
Bell peppers generally have a long life, especially if kept in refrigeration.
A little about Chinese-American Food
Chinese-American cuisine is a style of Chinese cuisine that was developed by Chinese Americans. These dishes significantly differ from traditional Chinese dishes because Chinese-American dishes were adapted to suit American tastes.
Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States in large numbers in the mid-19th century in order to escape the economic difficulties in China, hoping to find work during the California Gold Rush and on the Central Pacific Railroad.
They mostly settled together in ghettos, individually known as Chinatown, and—since there were laws preventing them from owning their own land—they opened their own businesses, such as laundry services and restaurants.
Initially, the family-owned businesses catered to miners and railroad workers, and restaurants were set up in places where Chinese food was unknown. Food was based on the requests of the customers, and recipes were created to suit American tastes using whatever ingredients were available.
One major difference between traditional Chinese cuisine and Chinese-American cuisine is in the use of vegetables. Chinese-American recipes will use raw or uncooked ingredients and those not native to China. Traditional Chinese cuisine, on the other hand, rarely contains raw or uncooked ingredients and often uses Asian leaf vegetables.
While the new dishes were not traditional Chinese, these restaurants were responsible for the development of the ever-popular Chinese-American cuisine.
The little history of kosher Chinese-American Food
It is well known that Jews (especially those with ties to New York) love Chinese food. You can find at least one and, more often than not, several kosher Chinese restaurants in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods.
There is a popular Jewish joke: “According to the Jewish calendar, the year is 5749. According to the Chinese calendar, the year is 4687. That means for 1,062 years, the Jews went without Chinese food.” That was back in 1989, and who knows when the joke even started?
Jews as a group were probably first introduced to Chinese food in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where immigrants of various cultures settled in their own neighborhoods in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
By the early 1900s, approximately one million Jews from Eastern Europe and half a million Italians from Southern Italy shared the Lower East Side of Manhattan with only approximately 7,000 Cantonese Chinese, most of whom had moved from California.
Due to anti-Chinese laws and acts, which prevented them from competing with whites, many Chinese opened restaurants.
The majority of Jewish immigrants at that time were observant in their religion and ate only kosher food when they arrived in New York. But, over time, many assimilated.
Some continued keeping kosher at home while allowing themselves to stray while out. Sunday was a favorite time for eating out, and Chinese food was not only reasonably priced, but their restaurants were open on Sundays.
But for Jews who lept kosher, it still took decades, until someone finall found a solution and became the originator of kosher Chinese food (deli-Chinese).
Using Cantonese Chinese recipes and substituting kosher veal, beef, and chicken livers for pork, Sol Bernstein, the owner of the Manhattan deli named after his father Schmulka Bernstein, began selling kosher Chinese.
It was so good that the menu did very well and became very popular and even though Sol changed the name of the deli to Bernstein on Essex, so it would sound more upper-class Manhattan, everyone still called it Shmulka Bernstein’s until Sol’s death in 1992, when the deli was sold.
If you love Chinese-American food and keep kosher or just don’t eat pork or shellfish, but don’t have a suitable restaurant for Chinese takeout near you, or if you just don’t want to pay the high prices they charge, then you should totally try these other homemade kosher Chinese-American recipes!
- Kosher Beef and Broccoli
- Kosher Chicken and Broccoli
- Kosher Mongolian Chicken
- Kosher Mongolian Beef
- Kosher Corned Beef & Cabbage Egg Rolls
- Kosher Chicken Lo Mein
- Kosher General Tso’s Chicken
- Kosher Chicken Fried Rice
- Vegetarian Fried Rice
- Kosher Chicken Chow Mein
- Kosher Beef Chow Mein
- Kosher Egg Drop Soup
Easy Kosher Pepper Steak (Without Oyster Sauce)
Easy and delicious Chinese-American beef and pepper dish, made wtihout dairy, pork, or oyster sauce. Delicious and also kosher!
Ingredients
- 4 large green and/or red bell peppers, sliced into 1/2" slices
- 1 1/2 - 2 pounds kosher flank or rib eye (or other meat that cooks quickly), sliced into thin 1" - 1 1/2" slices
- 2 medium onions, sliced very thin (optional)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce*
- 1/2 cup water*
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar, preferably dark
- 2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons cornflour
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Lightly fry green and red pepper slices (and onion if desired) in a small amount of oil in a large frying pan.
- Add meat slices and cook through while mixing.
- Add soy sauce, water, garlic, brown sugar, and ginger.
- Cook for approximately 10 minutes or until peppers are almost soft.
- Create a slurry with some of the sauce and cornflour and mix back in until meat is coated (if the sauce is too thin, make and add a little more slurry, if it is too thick, add a little more water).
- Turn off heat.
Notes
* You can change the quantities of the soy sauce and water depending on how strong you like it.
To ensure this dish is kosher, make sure that not only the beef is kosher but that there is no question about any of the other ingredients as well.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 451Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 88mgSodium: 3575mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 2gSugar: 12gProtein: 35g