Korean-Style Beef Stir Fry Recipe

Any day ending in a "y" is a good day to fix up a killer stir fry. This Korean-style beef stir fry features such delicious and tender meat that you simply can't go wrong, no matter which day of the week you're preparing it on. This recipe uses tender skirt steak marinated in flavor-bursting Korean-style marinade that adds plenty of flavor to the meat. Instructions include tips on searing the meat to perfection in order to lock in the flavor while keeping the meat nice and tender. You'll pair the meat with yellow peppers and onions sautéed to perfection, then serve over a bed of rice. It's got a great balance of meat, veggies, and starch. 

Recipe developer Deniz Vergara came up with this easy recipe that puts the perfect Korean spin on your meal. "I love how quickly this recipe comes together, and how flavorful it is. Sometimes I marinade the steak the night before, or before work in the morning so when it is dinner time, so it takes 10 minutes to get on the table," Vergara says. "I typically serve this meal on a busy weeknight, but it is a great dish to make for friends and family because you can prep it ahead of time along with a big pot of rice and then just take 10 minutes to cook." This way, you can be spending less time in the kitchen and more time with loved ones — it's truly a win-win recipe.

The most important ingredient for this recipe is skirt steak. Be sure to pick a good cut and when you take it home to prepare it, slice it against the grain. You will also need garlic cloves, minced ginger, grated apple, soy sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, scallion, yellow bell pepper, red onion, avocado oil, and salt. There's also one optional garnish: sesame seeds.

"The secret ingredient in this recipe is the grated apple because its juices tenderize the meat," Vergara notes. "Typically I would use Asian pear, but since that is harder to find, apple works just as well. If you are in a pinch, you can even use unsweetened applesauce." 

Take out a medium-sized bowl and add the sliced skirt steak first. Then, add the ingredients for the marinade. That includes ginger, apple, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and the white parts of the scallion. Let the meat sit and marinade for 20 minutes so the meat locks in all the flavor. "The sauce in this recipe is the perfect balance of salty, sweet and tangy, which is typical of Korean style food," Vergara says of the flavor. 

While you wait for the meat to marinate, take out a cutting board and slice the onion and peppers into ¼-inch-wide strips.

Select a cast iron skillet or wok and place it on your stove. Turn the heat to medium and add a tablespoon of avocado oil. Let the oil warm for a few seconds and once it starts to simmer, add the yellow peppers and onion to the pan. Keep the veggies on for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. You just want to make sure they're heated through but still crispy. Once the 2-3 minutes are up, remove the veggies from pan and set them aside.

For this step, you can use the same skillet that you used to cook the veggies. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the remaining tablespoon of avocado oil. Wait for the oil to begin simmering and then add the marinated skirt steak strips in a single layer. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan as you can always work in batches. "The main mistakes that you can make with this recipe is overcrowding the pan with too much steak so it doesn't brown or to overcook the meat. Skirt steak is very tender and doesn't have to be cooked very long," Vergara notes. 

Season the steak with ¼ teaspoon of salt and cook for about a minute on the first side to get a good sear. Use tongs to flip the steak to the other side and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. The meat should be browned on both sides when complete. 

Scrape the meat and any juices from the pan into a clean bowl and then place the skillet back on the stove. Add more avocado oil if necessary and repeat the same steps to sear the remaining steak. Then, add the veggies and all the steak back to the pan to mix together and heat through.

Remove the veggies and steak from the pan and serve. Vergara recommends serving over rice and adding the green parts of the scallions on top for garnish. At this point, you can also add sesame seeds if you wish.