Sirloin Stir Fry With Vegetables

A sirloin stir fry comes together in about 40 minutes. Slice top sirloin thin across the grain, pat it dry, and give it a light coat of soy sauce and cornstarch. Sear it in batches in a smoking-hot wok or skillet, set it aside, stir-fry broccoli, red pepper and snap peas, then pour in a garlic, ginger and soy sauce and toss the beef back in.

Top sirloin is a good steak for this. It is lean and firm with a clean beef flavor, it slices neatly, and it stays tender as long as it is cut thin and cooked fast. The one thing that ruins it is a crowded, lukewarm pan, which is why the beef goes in a third at a time.

At a glance: serves 4 to 6 with rice. Prep 25 minutes, cook about 15 minutes. Add 20 minutes in the freezer first if you want the steak easier to slice.

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PM Top Sirloin Steak

This recipe uses 2 top sirloin steaks, about 1 3/4 to 2 pounds in all, enough for 4 to 6 with rice.

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Gray Shipley, who runs the farm, was asked for his most reliable, don't-mess-this-up steak advice. He answered in six words:

“Get the moisture off the surface.”

Gray Shipley

He was talking about a whole steak, but a stir fry is steak cut small, and the rule matters even more here. Wet beef in a hot pan steams and turns gray before it can brown. Dry beef sears in under a minute. That is why the slices are patted dry before the soy and cornstarch go on, and why that coating is kept light enough to cling rather than pool.

Ingredients

• 2 top sirloin steaks, about 1 3/4 to 2 pounds in all
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, for the beef
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, for the beef
• 1/2 cup water or low-sodium beef broth, for the sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, for the sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, for the sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, divided
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into small florets (about 3 cups)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 6 ounces snap peas (about 2 cups), strings removed
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 4 scallions, sliced, white and green parts kept separate
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 4 cups cooked white or brown rice, to serve

Instructions

1. For easier slicing, put the steaks in the freezer for 20 minutes until firm but not frozen. Trim off any thick fat at the edge. Cut each steak into strips about 2 inches wide, running with the grain, then slice each strip across the grain into pieces about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Spread the slices on paper towels and pat them dry on both sides. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 teaspoons cornstarch until evenly and thinly coated, and leave them for 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare everything else.
3. Whisk the water or broth, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, 2 teaspoons cornstarch and sesame oil in a small bowl. Keep the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and red pepper flakes together on a plate by the stove.
4. Heat a wok or a heavy 12-inch skillet over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, swirl, and add a third of the beef in a single layer. Leave it alone for 1 minute, until browned underneath, then toss and cook for 30 to 60 seconds more, until browned outside and still a little pink inside. Move it to a plate. Repeat with 2 more tablespoons of oil and the rest of the beef in two more batches.
5. Add the last tablespoon of oil, then the broccoli and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, until the water has steamed off and the broccoli is bright green. Add the pepper and snap peas and stir-fry for 2 minutes more, until crisp-tender.
6. Push the vegetables to the side, add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and pepper flakes to the clear spot, and stir them for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Toss everything together.
7. Whisk the sauce again, since the cornstarch settles, and pour it in. Toss until it boils and turns glossy, 30 to 60 seconds.
8. Return the beef and any juices on the plate, and toss for 30 to 60 seconds to coat and heat through. Scatter with the scallion greens and serve over rice.

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How to slice sirloin for stir fry

Thin and across the grain. Look at the raw steak and you will see the muscle fibers running in one direction. Cutting across them leaves each fiber short, so even a lean steak chews tender. A quarter inch is about right: thinner pieces overcook before they brown, thicker ones stay chewy. Twenty minutes in the freezer firms the meat so the knife does not push it around. The stir-fry guide below covers which other cuts slice this well.

Why the beef goes in batches

Two pounds of cold beef dropped into one pan cools it at once. The slices release their juices, the juices pool, and the meat boils in them. Cooking a third at a time keeps the pan hot enough to brown each batch in about a minute and a half. The whole job still takes under five minutes, and you get a browned, savory edge instead of gray, rubbery strips. The same idea, dry meat and a very hot pan, is behind a good crust on any steak.

Sirloin pan fry: the skillet version

You do not need a wok. A heavy stainless or cast-iron 12-inch skillet works well, as long as you heat it until it smokes and cook the beef in batches. Avoid nonstick here; most nonstick pans should not be heated this hot.

If you would rather pan fry the sirloin whole and slice it afterward, that works too. Pat the steaks dry, season them with salt and pepper, and sear them in a hot skillet with a tablespoon of oil for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until a thermometer reads your target. Rest them for 5 minutes, slice them thinly across the grain, and serve them alongside the stir-fried vegetables and sauce. You lose the browned edges on every slice, but you get a rosier center.

Top sirloin or another steak?

Top sirloin is a good everyday choice because it is lean, even in texture and easy to slice. Flank and flat iron work in the same recipe. Ribeye works too, though its fat makes the dish richer. The sirloin and ribeye comparison below explains how the two steaks differ.

Swapping the vegetables

Use about 6 cups of vegetables in all. Start the firmest ones first: carrots, broccoli and green beans need 2 to 3 minutes; peppers, snap peas, mushrooms and bok choy stems need 1 to 2; leafy greens need only a final toss with the sauce.

Food safety

Sliced steak is still a whole cut, and USDA FSIS lists 145 degrees F, followed by a rest of at least 3 minutes, as the safe minimum internal temperature for beef steaks. Strips this thin are hard to probe, so check a few of the thickest pieces with an instant-read thermometer once the beef is back in the sauce. Keep raw beef and its board apart from the vegetables, and reheat leftovers to 165 degrees F, the FSIS figure for leftovers. See the FSIS Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart.