A quick Tibetan stir-fry whose name means simply meat (sha) + fried (pta): thin-sliced beef or yak, marinated in a little soy and cornstarch, seared fast over high heat, then tossed with onion, green or bell pepper, ginger, garlic and dried chili — sometimes a little tomato — into a savory, lightly saucy, mildly spicy dish. It is scooped up with tingmo or eaten over rice to soak up the sauce.
Shapta (shab tra) is the everyday Tibetan stir-fried meat dish — strips of beef or yak quick-cooked with onion, pepper, chili and a little soy — eaten across the plateau and the Himalayan towns from Lhasa to Nepal and Bhutan. Tibetan cooking leans on boiling, roasting and pan-frying; this fast, high-heat wok style is a clear borrowing from neighbouring Chinese stir-fry, now settled into everyday Tibetan cooking. Its close cousins are the Chinese stir-fries of yak or beef with onion and pepper.
Tender strips of meat carry a thin savory soy glaze and the smoke of a screaming-hot wok, juicy rather than dry. Onion softens to a faint sweetness, green pepper stays snappy, and dried chili lays a warm, un-sharp heat underneath. The whole plate is savory and mildly spicy with a little sauce pooling beneath — the sauce you spoon over rice or sop up with tingmo.
It is all in the fast sear. Thin meat marinated in soy and cornstarch is fried over high heat so the starch gelatinizes and seals the surface, locking in the juices and keeping the meat tender. The wok is brought to a fierce heat and meat and vegetables are cooked in two quick batches, nothing lingering, so the onion keeps its sweetness and the pepper stays crisp. Chili, ginger and garlic go in at the aromatic stage, their fragrance bloomed in the hot oil so the heat is round rather than harsh.
Variations
With yak, beef, mutton or pork; with Sichuan peppercorn for those who like it numbing; a drier version with the sauce cooked off and more vegetables; a saucier version made to be dipped with tingmo. Cabbage, celery or bean sprouts are often added for crunch.
On the Palate
Where Shapta sits in the Tibetan flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 25 min
- 18 min
Slice meat thinly across the grain and toss with a little soy sauce and ginger.
- 26 min
Cut celery, carrot and onion into batons and slice the green chilies.
- 32 min
Heat a wok until very hot and add oil.
- 43 min
Sear the meat quickly in the hot wok until just browned, then set aside.
Watch outGet the wok smoking before the meat goes in — a fierce first sear browns the surface and seals the juices; a cool wok stews it grey and tough.
- 54 min
Stir-fry the onion, carrot and celery until crisp-tender.
Watch outKeep it moving over high heat and pull the vegetables while they still snap — the onion should soften just at the edges but stay sweet, the pepper still crisp.
- 62 min
Return the meat, add garlic, green chili and a splash of soy sauce.
- 72 min
Toss everything over high heat until glossy and coated.
Watch outToss until the sauce clings and everything turns glossy, then stop — a few seconds more and the juices cook off and the meat stiffens.
- 81 min
Season with salt and serve hot with tingmo or rice.
