Spicy Stir-Fried Beef with Carrots, Celery, and Chiles

This spicy stir-fried beef with carrots, celery, and chiles is wonderful meaty dish. You can serve it as dinner for four with rice or noodles, or as part of a multi-course meal for a crowd. 

This succulent stir-fry is intensely flavored with the beef, vegetables, and chiles, and is stir-fried with a bit of soy sauce, grated ginger, minced garlic, sesame oil, and scallions, along with some salt and pepper. 

For the chiles, use dried whole chiles de arbol, which you cook with the carrots and celery after snipping off the tops so that the seeds are released into the mix. 

I also added a couple of fresh jalapeños (I've used both red and green, depending on what I have on hand). I cut a couple of the fresh peppers into thirds and added them into the vegetables. Remove the chiles prior to serving the beef. 

Method: To make this spicy stir-fried beef, you use the "dry stir-frying" method (gon chau). 

Dry stir-frying is a technique that involves cooking ingredients in oil but without sauce or stock. In this case, the beef is cooked for several minutes in a small amount of oil. The beef is stir-fried until the juices from the meat are partially evaporate and partially absorbed back into the beef. 

In addition, the julienned celery, carrots, and chiles are dry stir-fried separately from the beef. 

First you stir fry the carrots, celery, and chiles and then set them aside while you stir fry the beef. 

What is different from most stir-fries is that the beef is stir-fried for nearly eight minutes, until the juices are evaporated or reabsorbed into the meat, which intensifies and caramelizes the flavor. Eventually, your wok should be nearly dry as you are completing this step.

After that, add soy sauce, ginger, and garlic and toss everything together. 

Finally, add the vegetables back into the wok, toss everything together, and then add the sesame oil, scallions, and salt and pepper and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. 

Equipment You May Need:

Flat-bottomed 14 inch carbon steel wok: Definitely make this dish in a wok if you have one. 

For stir-frying, I like to use a metal fish spatula, but a wok spatula will work too. 

The fish spatula is great because it is lightweight and you can use it for lots of dishes. It's my "go-to" spatula these days. I even have one that is safe for nonstick pans. 

More Hot and Spicy Food Recipes

• Carne Guisada (Mexican Beef Stew) from Palatable Pastime
• Chicken Buffalo Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Creamy Cajun Sweet Potato Soup with Crab from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Easy Mole Sauce from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Spicy Cabbage Masala from Snehas Recipe
• Xnipec Salsa from Magical Ingredients

Spicy Stir-Fried Beef with Carrots, Celery, and Chiles

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min

This spicy stir-fried beef with carrots, celery, and chiles is wonderful meaty dish. You can serve it as dinner for four with rice or noodles, or as part of a multi-course meal for a crowd.

Ingredients

• 1 pound flank steak
• 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, divided
• 2 cups of julienned carrots (from about 3 large carrots)
• 2 cup julienned celery (from about 2 large celery stalks)
• 3 small dried chiles de arbol, with the tops snipped off with scizzors
• 2 jalapeño peppers, cut into thirds
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 3 scallions, finely sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Cut the flank steak with the grain into 2-inch strips. Cut the strips, against the grain into 3/8 inch slices. Turn the slices on their side and cut them in half, lengthwise. You should end up with little 2-inch matchsticks.
2. Heat your 14-inch flat bottomed wok over high heat and and swirl in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the carrots, celery, and chiles. Stir-fry the mixture with a spatula for one minute. Transfer the vegetables to a plate.
3. Add the rest of the oil to the wok and add the flank steak, spreading the pieces over the wok to lay flat and sear for one minute, undisturbed. Next, stir-fry for one minute over high heat. The beef will begin to release juices and foam. Stir fry for an additional 3 minutes over high, and then reduce the heat to medium, and stir-fry for 3 minutes more, until nearly, if not all, of the liquid has disappeared.
4. Add the soy sauce and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the ginger and garlic and stir briefly, about 10 seconds. Add the vegetables back to the wok and stir-fry for 30 seconds to combine thoroughly. Stir in the sesame oil, scallions, salt, and pepper.
5. Turn off the heat and remove the chiles before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

293

Fat (grams)

16 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

4 g

Carbs (grams)

10 g

Fiber (grams)

3 g

Net carbs

7 g

Sugar (grams)

5 g

Protein (grams)

27 g

Cholesterol (grams)

68 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2014/08/spicy-dry-fried-beef-wok-wednesdays.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

beef, wok, stir-fry

main dish

Chinese

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @karenskitchenstories.com on instagram and hashtag it #karenskitchenstories

First published in August, 2014. Updated in January, 2024 with updated photos and a printable recipe card. 

The original recipe for this stir-fry, which does not include the fresh chiles, can also be found on NPR. It's also on page 70 of Grace Young's amazing James Beard award winning book, Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge. I highly recommend this collection of amazing stir-fries along with lessons on Asian ingredients and the care and feeding of your wok.