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Asian American stir-fry makes most of late-season peppers

Recipe: Pepper steak showcases sweet bell peppers

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 28, 2025

This pepper steak stir fry is delicious served on brown rice. Debbie Arrington

Somehow this summer, I grew the most beautiful bell peppers in a variety of jewel-like colors. The last of them are maturing now – just in time for a warming fall meal.

Peppers on counter — Beautiful peppers for pepper steak.

I’ve been making pepper steak for more than 40 years. It’s a great way to stretch less than a pound of steak to feed four people – as well as show off tasty peppers.

This recipe is a variation of an old-school Asian American classic. (The original inspiration came from Sunset’s Oriental Cook Book, published in 1982.) Besides other tweaks, I spiced up this version with a home-grown red jalapeño added to the mixed bell peppers in shades of green, orange and red.

To cut the steak wafer-thin, start with a frozen steak. Half-defrost the meat so it’s still very solid, and use a sharp serrated knife. Sirloin is perfect for this dish, but other cuts of beef work, too.

Serve over rice (white or brown). If you like a thicker sauce, mix together 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water and add that with the broth.

Pepper steak

Makes 3 to 4 servings

Ingredients:

12 ounces sirloin steak or similar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce

Pepper steak stir fry — The stir fry combination sizzles in the wok.

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons white wine

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 tablespoons oil, divided

½ cup onion, chopped

1-1/2 cups bell peppers, cut into 1/4-inch strips

1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

½ cup tomatoes, chopped

½ cup chicken or vegetable broth

Instructions:

Slice steak into wafer-thin slices across the grain. Set aside.

Make marinade: In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce and cornstarch. Stir in white wine, sugar, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.

Add beef to marinade and stir until well coated. Set aside.

In a wok or large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir-fry until soft, about 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, jalapeno and mushrooms. Stir-fry until they start to soften, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove vegetables from pan. Add remaining oil. Add beef to pan, reserving marinade, and stir-fry about 3 minutes, browning meat on both sides.

Return vegetables to pan. Add tomatoes. Stir fry until tomatoes begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add broth and reserved marinade to pan; stir to mix. Cover. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until beef and peppers are done.

Serve immediately over rice.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes peppers main course entree Asian flavors September fall cooking Sacramento gardening produce management farmers markets

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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