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Stir-fried pepper steak and creamy fettuccine Alfredo are two dishes that you just’d by no means assume to mix. Past being fully, wholly totally different dishes with competing taste profiles, the 2 are from fully totally different cuisines whose substances barely overlap. Pepper steak, a Chinese language stir fry made within the US with steak, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, beef broth, and bell peppers, is a sturdy, umami-filled dish with a salty, savory taste. Alfredo, however, is made with butter, cream, and cheese, a wealthy mixture that clashes with the daring flavors of Chinese language stir fry. Combining them, then, is a near-impossible activity — however we made it occur with the assistance of one other delicacies’s star ingredient, gochujang.

Recipe developer Michelle McGlinn exhibits us the facility of gochujang on this pepper steak Alfredo recipe, which marries the creamy Alfredo sauce with savory steak and peppers by including a contact of warmth. The wealthy and creamy sauce turns into spicy and flippantly tangy, making it the proper pairing for the seared steak and peppers. A fusion of cultures that leads to a surprisingly balanced dish, this pepper steak Alfredo is a good way to modify issues up in a single scrumptious, spicy, creamy pasta dinner.

To make the pepper steak portion of this recipe, you will want steak. The very best cuts of steak to make use of for pepper steak embody sirloin, flank, or spherical, which may be minimize into strips and seared shortly (for this recipe, you will sear the steak in vegetable oil). You will additionally want bell peppers, salt, and white pepper. From there, you will make the fusion Alfredo sauce, which begins with butter, garlic, and scallions. To complete the sauce, you will want soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, gochujang, butter, heavy cream, and Parmesan. Lastly, remember the fettuccine to make this a pasta dish.

Prepare dinner fettuccine in a pot of salted boiling water till al dente.

Reserve ½ cup pasta water, drain the pasta, and put aside.

Within the meantime, warmth oil in a forged iron skillet over medium warmth.

Season steak with salt and white pepper, tossing to coat.

Add the steak and peppers to the skillet and prepare dinner till deeply browned, about 8-10 minutes. Take away the skillet from the warmth.

Add the garlic and scallions and prepare dinner till aromatic, about 1 minute.

Add the gochujang and prepare dinner till starting to stay to the underside of the pot. Don’t let the gochujang burn.

Deglaze with Shaoxing wine and soy sauce. Stir within the heavy cream and produce to a simmer. Prepare dinner till thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Take away from the warmth and add the Parmesan, stirring till clean.

Add the pasta, thinning the sauce with the pasta water to desired consistency.

Add the steak and peppers and toss to serve.

Gochujang is a spicy condiment with a lengthy historical past in Korean delicacies. Made with fermented soybeans and chilis, the thick, crimson paste is greatest used for including a singular umami spice to stir fries, barbecues, and gradual roasts. It’s also generally utilized in pastas and noodles so as to add a touch of spice, typically changing into the hyperlink between two opposing taste profiles like it’s on this pepper steak Alfredo recipe. Whereas there’s nothing that precisely replicates the flavour of gochujang, there are methods to realize an identical taste profile on this recipe with out it.

The very first thing you may attempt if you do not have gochujang is including tomato paste to the skillet, then, after deglazing with soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, including a swirl of chili oil or a sprinkling of crimson pepper flakes. The tomato helps add an acidic taste and a fiery coloration to the sauce, including richness and enhancing the umami of the soy sauce. The second choice you may attempt is miso, which is a fermented soybean paste much like the bottom of gochujang. Blended with chili oil, will probably be a really comparable taste to gochujang, however ought to be used extra sparingly. One tip: Although it’s a comparable, spicy condiment, we do not suggest including Sriracha, which is a bit more tangy than gochujang and may have a way more acidic taste.

Like many recipes, the quantity of pasta water you add to the sauce will rely upon how skinny you need it to be. Normally, you need pasta sauce to cling to the noodles, moderately than pool on the backside of the plate or bowl. A small splash is sufficient to accomplish this, and slightly extra will skinny a very thick sauce. That is useful while you’ve by chance lowered the sauce an excessive amount of, or if you should prolong the sauce to coat slightly extra pasta than you thought you had.

We all the time suggest reserving ½ cup of pasta water earlier than draining — you may’t get that water again, so it is safer to order slightly greater than you assume you will want. It is fully probably that you’re going to solely want about 1 tablespoon, through which case, the remaining pasta water may be discarded. In the event you by chance drain all the water with out saving any, don’t fret, simply toss the pasta with rooster broth or a splash of heat water to skinny.