A wide range of kitchen appliances, including builtin ovens, cooktops, ranges, refrigerators, and dishdrawer dishwashers. Our passion is turning everyday cooking experiences into culinary creations. Cook to create. Learn more at fisherpaykel. Com quinoa, chia, flaxseed, farro, wholewheat flour, coconut flour, almond meal, steelcut oats, muesli, 10grain cereal, wheat germ, oat bran, millet, tapioca flour. Americas test kitchen is proudly sponsored by kohler. We design innovative sinks and faucets for people who do their best work in the kitchen. And by siematic the art of kitchen interior design inspired by your lifestyle. Siematic. Holland america line sails to over 400 ports of call, transporting guests to the worlds wonders. Information available through a travel professional or at hollandamerica. Com. Blue apron. The worst part of beef stirfry well, its the beef. Yep. Its usually overcooked, rubbery, and gray. But today, were going to fix that once and for all. Thats right. And it starts by using the right cut of beef, and here we have a flank steak. And we like flank steak because its an inexpensive cut of meat, has a big, beefy flavor, and its easy to cut into bitesize pieces, which is what you want for a stirfry. Now, cutting the flank steak in the right direction means everything. First, im gonna cut it with the grain into just smallish pieces, about 2 to 2 1 2 inches wide. And then, taking one of these pieces at a time, im gonna cut it crosswise, against the grain, into about 1 4inchthick slices. All right, so, that was a pound of flank steak. You know when you go out to a Chinese Restaurant how the beef always tastes really tender and supple . Yes. Thats because they use a technique called velveting, where you take the beef, you let it sit in a mixture of egg whites and cornstarch and some seasonings for about 30 minutes. Now, its a good technique. We tried it here in the test kitchen, but its a real mess. You dont want to mess with it at home, so we found a simpler way using baking soda, because baking soda, much like the egg whites, tenderized the meat. So, this is 1 2 teaspoon of baking soda. Were gonna mix that with a tablespoon of water. Now were gonna add the beef, toss it all together, and let it sit for about five minutes. And thats hardly any of that mixture in there. You dont need a lot. You dont need a lot. So, how does adding baking soda to the meat help tenderize it . Well, the baking soda raises the meats ph, which alters the electrical charges on the proteins. Like electrical charges repel, so when we increase the ph of the meat, we create more negative charges, and that forces the proteins apart. When the proteins move farther apart, they become easier to bite through, and, therefore, the meat is more tender. All right, so, while that meat sits there and gets tender, were gonna start prepping the vegetables. And were gonna use two bell peppers different colors cause it looks pretty. And the easy way to cut up a bell pepper for stirfry is, first, lop off the top and the bottom, then slice down through the pepper right through the side. And then were gonna open it up, cut away the core and any of those ribs. And now you have a nice, flat piece of pepper that you can just slice. And were gonna cut it into 1 4inchthick slices. Its always a good idea to prep all of your vegetables, your meat everything ahead of cooking with stirfry, cause once you start cooking, it goes very, very fast. So, the peppers are done, and on to our second vegetable scallions. Now, were gonna treat the whites like an aromatic and saute it later with the garlic and ginger, but were gonna treat the greens like a vegetable. So, in order to prep scallions, you first just want to trim off the ends, and then were gonna slice this scallion in half, right where the dark green starts to turn into light green. So, im gonna cut this into about 3inch lengths, and then were gonna add it to the bowl of vegetables. And then im just gonna slice the scallion white on the bias into nice, thin slices. Six scallions altogether. Gonna put these in a separate bowl. So, its time to make the sauce. And were gonna make a spicy, peppery, cantonesestyle sauce, and it starts with a little water. This is 1 4 cup of water, and into it, were gonna put 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of dried sherry, and this is 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. It really adds that deep, earthy flavor. Next, were gonna add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. And heres the spicy bit 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper. 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar. Just a teaspoon and a half of sesame oil. Last but not least, the thickener. This is a teaspoon and a half of cornstarch. And thats it. Were just gonna whisk this together, and our sauce is done. That beef has been sitting with the baking soda for five minutes, so its good and tender. Now its time to give it a little flavor. So, using pretty much the same ingredients that were in the sauce, were gonna start with a tablespoon of soy sauce. To that, were gonna add a tablespoon of sherry, a little bit of cornstarch. And, again, that cornstarch is gonna help protect the meat as it cooks, so it stays nice and tender. So, this is a teaspoon and a half of cornstarch. Last but not least, 1 2 a teaspoon of brown sugar helps the meat brown as we cook it. Im just gonna mix this together to dissolve the cornstarch and the sugar, and now were gonna just pour it over the beef. Its easy as that. All right, so, everythings prepped. We have the beef, the vegetables, and the sauce, and that meat has been sitting for at least 15 minutes, so its soaked up some of that flavor. Its time to get cooking. Into this nonstick skillet, im gonna put 2 teaspoons of Vegetable Oil. Im gonna heat it up over high heat till its just smoking. So, to make stirfry, we never use a wok. We always use a flat, nonstick skillet because the flat surface makes better contact with our flat stoves, so it gets more even heat. All right, so, were just gonna add half the meat so that each piece can get a nice, good sear. And then im gonna quickly spread it out into an even layer, and then were just gonna let it cook undisturbed for about one minute and get some good browning on each piece of meat. All right, so, its been about a minute, so its time to give it a good stir. Put it brown side up, let it go for about another minute. These guys are good and browned on both sides, so its time to take them out of the pan. Back on the stove. 2 more teaspoons of oil, and well do that second batch of beef. Ooh, look at that second side nice and brown. So, out of the pan goes our second batch of beef. Time to cook the vegetables. And for the vegetables, were gonna add another 2 teaspoons of Vegetable Oil. Were gonna add all the peppers and the scallion greens. So, its been about four minutes, and you can see they have a nice spotty brown. Theyre not completely tender. Theyre just crisp tender. Little bite left in them. So, im gonna add them to the bowl with the beef. Back on the stove. Now, im gonna turn the heat down to medium high, and were gonna saute the aromatics. So, im gonna add 4 teaspoons of oil. Now were gonna add those scallion whites that i kept separate, along with a tablespoon of freshly minced ginger and three cloves of minced garlic. So, this is gonna cook for about two minutes, until those scallions have softened. Starting to get a little brown, and those scallions are soft, so now its time to add everything back to the skillet. So, here, were gonna add both batches of beef and all the vegetables, along with any accumulated juices. All right, and were gonna give it a little toss. Ohh so good. Doesnt that look good . Now, last but not least, is our sauce. Now were gonna add it to our nice, hot skillet. Mmm. And its gonna come to a simmer, and as it simmers, that cornstarch is gonna thicken. [ both chuckle ] oh, doesnt that look good . Were about eight blocks past good, julia. [ both laugh ] we are all done cooking. Yeah. Now, that is a stirfry, my friend. Im gonna put a little rice in the bottom of our bowls. Now for the beef stirfry. Mmm. Beautiful. Mmm. Mmhmm. I never in my life thought i would say flank steak and melt in your mouth in the same sentence. Right . Its so tender. The bell peppers cooked absolutely perfectly. Mmhmm. Still a little bit crisp. Yeah. But tender. I love every single thing about this, except for the bowl is too small. Mmhmm. Our beef stirfry with bell peppers and blackpepper sauce really delivers, and the key is creating tender beef. Cut flank steak across the grain into bitesize pieces, soak the meat in a mild bakingsoda solution, and add cornstarch to the savory marinade. Flashsear the steak in a very hot pan, followed by peppers and scallions, then finish with a savory sauce. So, there you have it, from the test kitchen to your kitchen the very best beef stirfry with bell peppers and blackpepper sauce. Soy sauce can be used in so many more things than just stirfry sauces and marinades, and jack is here to tell us which sauce is best. We use a lot of soy sauce here in the test kitchen. It goes into everything from our favorite chili to stews, all kinds of european dishes not just asian dishes to add meaty, savory notes, cause its got a lot of glutamates, and glutamates build big flavor. Sure. So, before we taste, i want you to smell them, because youre gonna learn a lot from the aroma. So, we rounded up the 10 bestselling brands of soy sauce, made in china, the united states, and japan. We included tamari. Its got a lot of press now because its glutenfree. Regular soy sauce is boiled soy beans along with roasted wheat that are fermented, much like you ferment bread or pickles, and it takes time to develop all those flavors. Tamari, they leave out the wheat. Now, what the wheat is doing is adding some sweetness to balance out the saltiness. So, what youre looking for is complexity obviously, saltiness and meatiness, but honeysuckle, melon, pineapple, strawberry, smoke. Things i wouldve never thought of in soy sauce. The ones that are very metallic, musty, and sour, those are not good things. Those are things that we really downgraded quite substantially in the taste test. We sample them the way you are sampling them here. We also cooked with them. The other big difference we found among the soy sauces is they can be done through a traditional fermentation process, and that will take anywhere from two months to two years. Mmhmm. And that really builds the flavor. All the top brands, thats how theyre made. Some of the lowerrated brands that are made here in the u. S. , theyre using a shortcut called hydrolysis, and basically, they use hydrochloric acid to speed up the process, and it takes two days, rather than many months or many years, to make soy sauce. All at the bottom of the rankings. You want to avoid those brands. Well, they are all very wellseasoned. [ both laugh ] yes, they are. That is for sure. And some of them are very saltforward. This one, in particular, when i taste it, it tastes. I almost get a. Cognac . You know, that warm feeling that you get with a nice glass of cognac. Its that same kind of secondary flavor that im getting there. This particular one. Its got a taste, and i dont know if i like it or not. Okay. And the two on the ends . Not sure if youre liking those or what your opinion is . This tastes like liquid salt to me. Okay. The Tasting Panel found that some were just simply too salty, and it sounds like you think that one falls into that category. Definitely. Theres something underneath here, and i cant put my foot on it or my finger. I dont like that one. And what dont you like . Theres something really sharp there. So, it sounds like you have very definite opinions about what you like. Yes. This is 100 not crazy about this. Between these two, i think this is my favorite. Do you want to start with what you liked . Yes. Lets go with what i liked first. So, you chose the most expensive one. [ both laugh ] this is also probably the most artisanal. Its a japanese brand. It is fermented for two years. Its about 10 for a little bottle of soy sauce. It was fourth place. We liked it. Its very delicate. For a dipping sauce, its really a nice choice. At 10 for a bottle, im not sure i want to be making a marinade with it. So, this one was my runnerup. And youve really surprised me here. So, this is americanmade, very familiar. La choy. No this is the one that is hydrolyzed, so it is not really fermented. Youre kidding me so, it was in the middle of the pack, actually. Okay. People who were like, this is totally familiar. This is the soy sauce of my childhood. But for most americans, who didnt grow up in a family where they were using a lot of soy sauce, the soy sauce of our childhood is not necessarily a good thing, and so this was a brand where, really, i think its kind of onedimensional. Youre right. I mean, there is a little bit of the togo packets of soy sauce thing going on there. Maybe thats what i was connecting to. And then this one. This was at the bottom of the rankings. This is one of the tamaris, and you said it was way too salty. The Tasting Panel said this is the problem with the tamaris. Without any of the wheat, you dont get any of the sweetness to balance out all the saltiness, and theyre just really, really onedimensional and overpowering. So, im guessing this is the winner. The winner is kikkoman. It was the panels favorite choice. Made here in the u. S. It is fermented for six to eight months. Its not as delicate as the one that you liked, but it really has all those savory soy sauce notes that you want. It sure does. I mean, its very strong. So, maybe i just have a delicate palate. Or maybe youre not supposed to drink soy sauce out of a glass. [ both laugh ] that could be true, yes. Great advice. Do not drink soy sauce out of a glass. But if youd like to try the winner, its kikkoman soy sauce, and thats 2. 79 a bottle. I always order scallion pancakes whenever i go out for chinese food, and more often than not, i wind up with Something Like this guy. Hes gross. Hes soggy, hes supergreasy, he has no flavor, and he has no structure. But it wasnt until keith started churning out some seriously good versions right here in the test kitchen that it dawned on me that i can just make them myself. I did the same thing for years, julia, but theyre really simple to make, ive found out. Its just four ingredients flour, water, oil, and scallions. Thats it. Really simple. And when you make them at home, they can be so good. Theyre supercrisp and flaky on the outside, tender and chewy on the inside. So, we found that a coldwater dough was really hard to work with. It was supersticky and it was really hard to roll out. Boiling water made a supple dough that was really easy to work with. So, i have 1 1 2 cups of allpurpose flour in here, and im gonna pour 3 4 of a cup of boiling water, and its gonna create a shaggy dough. At a certain point, the spoon doesnt really work for me. It just kind of knocks the dough around, so i like to get my hand in there and work with it. Were gonna put this on the counter. Then im just gonna knead this for three or four minutes, until its smooth. Now, we want to keep this dough nice and soft. It should feel kind of like playdoh. Its kind of going back to your childhood. It kind of looks like playdoh. So, this has been about four minutes. The dough is fairly smooth. Its not perfectly smooth. But were just gonna kind of shape it into a ball here, and were gonna let this rest for 30 minutes. The glutens gonna relax, and thats gonna make rolling it out into a pancake a little bit easier. Lets talk about how that boiling water is the key to making this dough. Flour is made up of starch and proteins. When we add boiling water directly to the flour, two things happen. One, starch granules absorb water and swell, leaving less water to make the protein sticky, and two, the hot water straightens out some of the coils in the gluten structure, reducing the doughs tendency to snap back when you roll it out. Exactly. So, the dough is resting. Now were gonna make a quick dipping sauce. All right. I have five scallions here. So, really simple. You want to do a nice, thin slice. You dont have to get too fine here. So, were gonna take about a tablespoon of these and were gonna set that aside for our dipping sauce. Were gonna start with soy sauce. We have 2 tablespoons here. This is gonna give us a nice, deep, complex background. And then we have 1 tablespoon of water, 1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Thats gonna give it a nice, nutty background. And a healthy pinch of chili flakes. 2 teaspoons of ricewine vinegar. Were also gonna add a teaspoon of honey to this, too. That looks like a nice generic sauce that you could use for a lot of things, like dumplings. Exactly. Exactly. So, our dough has rested for 30 minutes, and now its time to make the pancakes. Lets do it. Im gonna slowly preheat our 10inch castiron skillet. So, here we have our dough. And as its sat for 30 minutes, it does get a little stickier, so im just gonna start with a little bit of bench flour here. Just gonna cut this in half. Im gonna put the other half back in this bowl again, then cover it with our plastic wrap, just to keep it moist again so it doesnt dry out as were doing this. Were gonna go for a 12inch circle here. And if youre anything like me, you never end up with a perfect circle, but thats okay. Always a little of an amoeba shape. Exactly. But, you know, it doesnt make any difference here at all. Now, you can see that the dough is really easy to roll out. Its not snapping back at all. Okay, im just gonna check my work here. I think thats good. So, weve been talking about flakiness. And now were getting to the part where were gonna make that dough flaky. So, we have a tablespoon of allpurpose flour in here, and im gonna add a tablespoon of Vegetable Oil and a tablespoon of sesame oil. And that sesame oil is gonna give us that nice scallionpancake flavor. And just a quick stir. Now we have a nice, homogenous paste here. Were gonna measure a tablespoon of this out, and were gonna drizzle it over this pancake, like that. Like a croissant or a pie dough, you have a lean dough with fat in between it. When that fat melts, it creates steam, and it separates those pieces. And whats gonna happen is, that flour in the paste is gonna absorb the oil, rather than the dough. Oh, so youre almost turning the oil into more of a solid state so it stays on the surface of the dough instead of getting absorbed. Exactly. And you can see its just sitting right on top of the dough. And it will stay like that over time, too. Were just gonna use two scallions worth. Just kind of make a nice, even layer over here, like that. And we have a 1 2 teaspoon of kosher salt here, just for a little bit of flavor, little bit of texture. So, now, this is my favorite part here. Were gonna roll this up into a cylinder, and this is where were gonna create our flaky texture. You really are making it look like playdoh, a little bit. [ laughs ] so, now that we have our cylinder, were gonna roll it into a coil, like this, and were gonna create even more layers. Its a pinwheel of layers. Exactly. Then, when we get to the end, were just gonna take this tail and tuck it underneath, like that, and press it down. That is cool. Okay. So, we have one. Were just gonna keep this covered up with some plastic wrap to keep it moist. Then im gonna start with our second one. We have our rolled and coiled doughs here, and were gonna get ready to cook. Im just gonna, again, use a little bit of bench flour here. Im just gonna pick these up. This time, were gonna roll it out into a 9inch circle, and thats gonna fit perfectly into our 10inch skillet thats preheating over there. Okay, perfect. We have a 9inch circle. Now, one more step before we get to cooking, and that is cutting a little halfinch slit in the middle of our pancake. We were finding, when we put the pancake into the skillet, that steam thats being created by that hot oil was coming up and ballooning the pancake up. So whats gonna happen is, any steam thats created, its gonna come through that slit. Very cool. Okay, so, our first ones done. Were gonna move on to our second one now. Now its time to cook. And were gonna start with 2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil. You want this pan hot, but you dont want it smokinghot, and you can see how the oil is shimmering like a spider web with just a few wisps of smoke. Thats perfect. Thats exactly what we want. So, were just gonna take this pancake and were gonna lay it in here like this. [ sizzling ] ooh, a nice little sizzle. Syeah, it should sizzle a little bit. Im just gonna give it a little bit of shake, because thats also gonna allow that steam to kind of escape out. And now im gonna cover it, which is really kind of weird for something thats supposed to be crisp. Yeah. But we found that sometimes the outside cooked through before the inside cooked, so we had this kind of raw, doughy interior. By covering it, were kind of steaming the top and steaming the interior, so its gonna be perfectly cooked by the time the outside is cooked. So, its been a minute. Before we flip it over, were gonna add a little bit more oil to the pan, directly on top of the pancake. Thats just to make sure that when we flip it over, that side is gonna have plenty of oil coating on it so itll get browned again. That makes sense. Grab it. Ooh, it smells good. It does smell great. Ohhhh, hello you always want to flip away from you, right, so if you have hot oil, youre not flipping it on top of you. So, were just gonna cover it and let it go for another minute. I think our second side is brown. Well just check it really quickly. Almost there, but now its time to take the cover off. We dont want to keep the cover on the whole time because we dont want to keep the crispy side steamed. I was wondering. Exactly. So, what were gonna do is, were gonna let it brown another 30 to 60 seconds on this side, get it nice and golden brown. Were gonna flip it over to the second side and do the same thing. Okay. So, this is ready to come up. Its crisp on both sides. Were just gonna put that over there on a wire rack. This thing looks seriously hot. I can see oil bubbling in there. Yeah, you want to give that a couple minutes before you eat it. So, were gonna cook our second one now. Were just gonna put 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan same thing. So, our second pancakes ready, and its time to eat. [ crunching ] oh, you can hear the crunch. Doesnt it sound great . Well, test number 1 it doesnt flop over. Yeah, and so, you can see all these nice flaky layers that we built in here, just like a croissant. And you have your dipping sauce. Mmhmm. [ laughs ] mmhmm. It amazes me that this was so easy to make and ive been ordering them all this time. Four simple ingredients thats it. Crispy on the outside, has a nice, tender, chewy interior. Its perfect. And it has good flavor. Nice job, keith. These are awesome. Glad you like them. So, if you really want terrific scallion pancakes, youre gonna have to make them yourself. Start with a simple dough made of flour and boiling water and let it rest for 30 minutes before rolling it out. When shaping the pancakes, brush the dough with a paste made of oil and flour to get that flaky, supercrisp texture. Finally, cook the pancakes in a castiron skillet to a deep, golden brown. And there you have it, from americas test kitchen to your kitchen an excellent recipe for scallion pancakes with dipping sauce. You can get this recipe, all the recipes from this season, along with our tastings, testings, and selected episodes on our website, americastestkitchen. Com. Let us help you with dinner tonight. Visit our website anytime for free access to this seasons recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings, or to watch currentseason episodes. Log on to americastestkitchen. Com. The complete americas test kitchen tv show cookbook includes every recipe, taste test, and equipment rating from all 17 years shows. Its our most comprehensive collection ever. The cost is 19. 95 55 less than the cover price of 45. To order, call 18008883384 or order online at americastestkitchen. Com. When you order, you can receive a 14day trial membership to our new Online Cooking School at no cost. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by the following Fisher Paykel. Since 1934, Fisher Paykel has been designing a wide range of kitchen appliances, including builtin ovens, cooktops, ranges, refrigerators, and dishdrawer dishwashers. Our passion is turning everyday cooking experiences into culinary creations. Cook to create. Learn more at fisherpaykel. Com. Honey oat granola, glutenfree pancake mix, glutenfree pizza crust mix. Im bob moore, founder of bobs red mill, and thats me on every package. Oh, extrathick rolled oats, corn grits, cornmeal, lentils, buttermilk pancake mix. Americas test kitchen is proudly sponsored by kohler. We design innovative sinks and faucets for people who do their best work in the kitchen. And by siematic the art of kitchen interior design inspired by your lifestyle. Siematic. Farmfresh ingredients, stepbystep recipes delivered to your door. Learn more at blueapron. Com. And by Holland America line. And by Holland America line. Anno ncer a kqed television production. Sbrocco another umami bomb. Obrien umami bomb