Bisteak - Beef Pepper Fry

Bisteak. I have thought a lot about whether the word comes from. Most seem to think that it's a colloquialism of the word "beef steak". There's also the Italian word bistecca and the Taglog word "bistek" which is a recipe similar to the Sri Lankan rendition. Regardless, this is possibly my favourite way to eat beef (after steak). My grandmother has made this a few times using chicken instead of beef and it lends vert well to pretty much any meat. The predominant flavour of this is pepper and cumin and if you use coconut oil instead of neutral oil, this dish is elevated to the next level! With that in mind, away we go!

Recipe notes:

Cut of meat: I used hanger steak for my version. Chuck and topside work really well, as does pretty much any other cut that isn't too fat and marbled. If you are using chicken, pork or lamb use chicken thigh, pork shoulder or lamb shoulder/leg.

Knife Skills: If you aren’t confident with your knife skills in cutting the beef into really thin slices, freeze the piece of beef for 2 hours before cutting and marinading. This will make it much easier to slice. It is important to slice the beef fairly thinly for this becayse this is the first step in ensuring your beef isn't chewy and rubbery and that it's still tender.

The cumin/pepper dry roast: This step is not essential but it really deepens the flavour of the dish significantly. Plus it takes only a few minutes. The amount of pepper here really does come down to your taste. The black pepper here in Australia is not overtly strong so I can get away with using about 2 tbs. Feel free to use less or more at your discretion.

Ingredients

For the marinade :

• 200g of beef sliced thinly

• 1 tbs of finely ground black pepper OR white pepper

• ½ cup vinegar (white wine, apple cider or plain)

• 1-2 tsp salt

• 3 tsp sugar

• 1 tbs cumin powder

• 1 tsp turmeric powder

• Mix all of the ingredients together and leave aside for a minimum of two hours

For the fry up

• 1 tbs whole black pepper and 2.5 tbs cumin dry roasted and ground together (you may not need to use the whole amount when actually cooking the beef)

• 1 large red onion, sliced into rings (for garnish)

• 1 small red onion chopped finely

• 5-4 cloves of garlic

• 3cm piece of ginger, sliced thin

• 3-4 large green chiilies sliced (reserve half for garnish)

• 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised

• 1 tsp black mustard seeds

• 5cm piece of Sri Lankan cinnamon

• 10 fengureek seeds

• 3cm inch piece pandan

• 2 sprigs of curry leaves

• 2-3 tbs of coconut oil for frying

• Salt to taste

Method

Wash and prep the beef (see notes above for slicing help) and marinade for a minimum of 2 hours. DO NOT SKIP THE VINEGAR! The vinegar tenderises the meat so it's very important to marinate the beef in advance and use vinegar in the marinade. When slicing it’s important to cut the beef into slices about 3mn thick. Anything more will make the beef chewy, anything less will dry it out.

In a dry pan, roast the cumin and black pepper together until fragrant and pound into a powder using a mortar and pestle, or grind using a spice grinder.

Heat 1 tbs oil in a heavy bottom pan to a high heat. Add in the marinaded beef (in batches if needed) . Add in half of the curry leaves and pandan plus half of the small red onion and garlic + cinnamon. Fry really well.

fry for 3-4 minutes until beef is halfway seared and pan juices have started to form

Drain the pan juices into a separate bowl, this will form the sauce. . Keep frying the beef until the oil begins to separate and the beef gets darker.

Once the beef has darkened in colour, remove the beef from the pan.

Into the same pan, add in the rest of the oil. Start frying all of the hard aromats except the onion rings. Add half of the green chilies you have reserved.

Once these have started to release their aroma, add in the cumin/black pepper powder mix, fry for a further minute or so. Add about half of the powdered mix and taste to check the level of spice and flavour before adding in the rest.

Reintroduce the beef into the pan and fry for about 2-3 minutes.

Reintroduce the pan juices & cook on a high flame until the sauce has reduced and the oil has started to come to the surface

Add in half of the sliced onion rings and cook for about 2-3 minutes.

At this stage, turn the heat off and add in the remaining green chilies and the onion rings and stir through once.

And done! Serve with warm rice and dhal, or with bread. Banana peppers or capsicums make a lovely addition to this dish. It's great in sandwiches too!

Sav xx