A Very Peppery Stir-Fry (That’s Not Too Spicy)

There are two key pepper elements in Zainab Shah’s new peppery beef and shishito stir-fry: shishito peppers and black pepper. You might think, given their prevalence in this dish, that I will focus the next bit on the shishitos, those approachable, mild, delightfully grassy peppers.

Instead, I would like to take this opportunity to declare my love and appreciation for black pepper.

For too long, black pepper was kind of an afterthought in my cooking, the thing I reached for on autopilot after adding salt. But I accidentally left it out of a dish once and, after the first bite, realized I missed its zip, that distinct piney sharpness. If salt lifts all flavors, black pepper grounds them, giving them a subtle warmth and earthiness.

Umami-rich foods, I find, really love black pepper: kimchi, cheese, miso and, yes, steak. Especially steak that’s had a quick marinade in soy sauce and sesame oil, and is then seared and tossed with charred shishito peppers, garlic and ginger. You could make Zainab’s dish without the shishitos, or with another mild pepper (bell pepper or sliced long hots) in their place. But you certainly wouldn’t want to skip the black pepper.