Chinese New Year is tomorrow? Darn, one night early! Night 2 of Olympic Meals - China!!

Melissa, how did you know?

Happy Saturday night!  Almost Valentine's Day for those that love Vday, almost Chinese New Year for those that love to celebrate that, and night 2 of the Olympics too!  Woohoo!  I've been very much looking forward to making this meal, as it includes one of my fave sides that I've written about before - fried rice - and because I'd be making the dish my husband always gets at our local Asian restaurant - Spicy Szechwan beef!

I've never had it before...so I always find it a little difficult and daunting when I taste it - is it right?  How do I tell? I just went with my gut and it turned out fabulously - the husband loved it and gave it a 10!!  Just be prepared to spend about an hour total cooking both of these items:)

For the beef, you will need:

• 1.5 lbs steak slices - I used meat that was already sliced for stew and cut it into thinner pieces
• tsp ground ginger, or 1/2 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1.5 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground Szechwan pepper *** I could not find this in my local grocery store, so I ended up using Szechwan packaged seasoning ***
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large red pepper, cut into thin slices

Place the beef, cut into small pieces or thin slices in a large bowl.  Add the ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, Szechwan pepper or powder from packet (I used the whole packet for an extra kick), and salt.  Mix thoroughly and let meat sit in the marinade for atleast 20 minutes.  Add the red pepper to the mixture once the 20 minutes are up.

 

Heat a medium to large fry pan over high heat and add a tbsp of olive oil.  When the oil is ready to cook, add the beef mixture, including the marinade, and cook until the beef is cooked to your liking (for me, it was about 10 minutes).  I decided to also add cans, both drained, of water chestnuts and baby corns.  

I have to say, I love how this came out, and how well it paired with my fried rice I love to make.  The sauce in this dish thickened during the cooking process, which I was happily surprised about!  Also, when you first add the mixture to the hot oil, do not be surprised as there will be quite the sizzle - made me nervous for a sec!  

  

 

I, who rarely has seconds, enjoyed 2 helpings of this!  You might catch me go back for more late night if I get hungry...or maybe not, since this morning I made our Canadian dessert that I didn't have time to make last night - Nanaimo bars!  Check out that blog post too:)

Can't wait to see if the American mogul skiers can beat the Canadians, and if Apolo can win a medal in the 1500 and start his trek to have the most medals ever by an American in the Winter Olympics - go USA!