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Garlic Pepper “Beef” Stir-Fry, Chinese-Style (Vegan)

5 from 5 votes
This Vegan Chinese-Style Garlic Pepper Beef Stir-Fry is packed with crisp and juicy bell peppers, onions, and soy strips or plant-based protein to replace the “beef”, that’s coated in a deliciously peppery and garlicky sauce. Skip the take-out and try out this recipe that you can easily cook and adjust to your taste. This garlic black pepper “beef” is perfect with some steamed rice or noodles for a perfectly hearty and satisfying meal. Enjoy!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Chinese, East Asian
Servings 3
Calories 122 kcal

Ingredients
  

Protein

  • 50 g dry soy strips makes 250g rehydrated (see notes for sub)
  • 1/2 tbsp corn starch
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp minced or grated ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine or other rice wine see notes

Black Pepper Sauce

Stir-Fry

  • Neutral oil
  • 1 medium white onion sliced
  • 1 red bell pepper sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic minced
  • More vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or soy sauce to taste if needed
  • More fresh ground black pepper if desired

To Serve

Instructions
 

  • You can see the photos above to see a step-by-step on how this dish is cooked.
  • Rehydrating the soy/plant-based meat: Rehydrate the pieces by placing these in a heat proof bowl and soaking in boiling hot water until doubled or even tripled in size. You can also rehydrate the soy pieces overnight. I simply place these in a container and add room temperature water to soak the chunks in.
  • Squeeze out the liquid from each piece. If your soy pieces are the type that are in larger pieces, you can break these apart into small pieces/strips.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce by mixing everything together. Feel free to adjust to your taste.
  • Mix the rehydrated soy chunks/protein with the corn starch, sesame oil, grated ginger, Shaoxing wine (or broth). Coat the pieces well. Leave to sit for at least 10 minutes. You can prepare this beforehand and just leave in the refrigerator until read to cook.
  • Stir-frying: Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high heat. Once hot, add in some oil. Stir-fry the onion and bell peppers over med high heat for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned and the bell peppers are tender. Move the onions to the side of the pan, then add in some more oil. Stir-fry the garlic until aromatic, around 1-2 minutes.
  • Mix everything together then add in the soy strips/plant-based meat.
  • Cook the pieces down for 1-2 minutes over med high heat. Give the sauce another good mix to make sure the start isn’t sitting at the bottom. Pour in the sauce and then mix well to coat all of the pieces. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the pieces have absorbed the sauce and the sauce has thickened. Lower the heat to medium if needed and keep an eye out and make sure to move the pieces around to make sure to nice and cooked, but be careful not to leave these to burn since the sauce has sugar that can easily burn.
  • Taste the pieces and feel free to season with more vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or soy sauce, to taste if needed. You can also add more freshly ground black pepper, if you’d like.
  • Turn off the heat then serve your garlic black pepper “beef” with some steamed rice or noodles for a perfectly hearty meal.

Notes

DRY SOY STRIPS/OTHER ALTERNATIVES

Here’s the exact flat TVP/soy meat I used! PS. Link is not an affiliate link. I purchased these from Shopee and can be shipped in the Philippines.
For my US-based friends, here are similar meat substitutes that you can find on Amazon:
(these are affiliate links)
Other substitutes: If you'd like, you can also just use some pan-fried extra firm tofu for this recipe. Make sure to press your tofu well before slicing into strips or cubes (or any shape of choice). If using a 500 g block of tofu, you can double the sauce.
Mushrooms such as shiitake or king oyster mushrooms will work great for this recipe too!

NUTRITIONAL INFO

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 122kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 781mg | Potassium: 209mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1389IU | Vitamin C: 85mg | Calcium: 78mg | Iron: 2mg
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?Please leave a rating or comment and share a photo on Instagram, and tag me @thefoodietakesflight or use #thefoodietakesflight :)