While wandering the aisles of our local grocery store without a plan, we happened upon a display of thinly sliced, tenderized beef. What to make? Tacos? Sandwiches? Stir-fry ultimately won out.

Quickly cooked beef, with an abundance of vegetables tucked in a wrapper, moo shu style, ranks among the family’s favorite take-out dinners. Easy enough to make at home if you have all the ingredients. The recipe that follows relies on very thinly sliced beef for quick-cooking tenderness and an assortment of thin sticks of vegetables.

Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, a renowned cookbook author, tells us in “Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking” that this universally popular dish originated in the kitchens of the imperial court in Beijing. There, the cooks put great effort into precise cutting of everything to show their effort.

Although I like to treat my family like royalty, I take shortcuts in the prep here. Shredded cabbage provides the bulk of the vegetables. Add in a bit of shredded bok choy if desired. Packaged, shredded carrots get added along with sliced, canned bamboo shoots.

Lean beef that has been trimmed and tenderized offers up big flavor with a short cook time. Some butchers send tough steaks through a needling machine to break up tough tissue. Alternatively, you can put trimmed steaks, such as skirt and flank, between sheets of heavy plastic wrap and pound them thin with a meat mallet to 1/4-inch thickness. Pork tenderloin and boneless skinless chicken thighs can replace beef if desired.

The trick to cooking lean beef, and other lean protein, is to use high heat to generate browning, which translates to flavor. Cook the meat in batches so there’s direct contact with the hot surface of the pan.

When it comes to wrappers, look for paper-thin moo shu wrappers, also known as spring roll wrappers, in the freezer section of Asian markets. Thin flour tortillas or ready-made crepes work just as well. The wrappers heat nicely in a covered dish or wrapped in plastic in the microwave oven.

If you want some extra heat, stir a little chile paste into hoisin sauce and pass for guests to smear on their wrappers before rolling it up.

Spicy Moo Shu Beef with Vegetables

Makes 4 servings

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