Stir-Fried Orange Beef with Sesame Seeds Recipe

February 2, 2010

This is one of those recipes that wasn’t excellent the first time, but you can really see its potential. It came from O magazine, which has wonderful recipes mostly written by two of my favorite cooks and food writers, Celia Barbour and Rori Trovato.

The article was about using oranges in savory cooking. Although I liked the orange flavor with the beef it was a little much. The next time I make this I will cut the amount of orange zest in half, finely grate it, and leave out the orange segments. Here is my version.

Stir-Fried Orange Beef with Sesame Seeds Recipe

Stir-fried strips of tender beef tossed with orange zest, sesame seeds, and ginger. Dairy free! The beef is much easier to slice if it is a little frozen. Stick in the freezer for 30 minutes for easier slicing. Adapted from O Magazine

Yield: 6 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2 1/2 pounds flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
4 teaspoons cornstarch
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from 2 large oranges)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry
2 teaspoons chili paste, such as Sambal Oelek
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch scallions thinly sliced

Instructions

Place steak in a large bowl and sprinkle with cornstarch, soy sauce and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Toss to coat and set aside to marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes, or in the fridge for up to 5 hours.
Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet until golden brown, shaking pan frequently to prevent burning.
Combine orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, sherry, chili paste, and oyster sauce in a medium bowl and mix well.
Heat half of the peanut and sesame oils in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Once shimmering add half of the meat, and stir-fry until lightly browned. Remove from pan and repeat with remaining oils and beef. Return first batch of beef to the pan and add ginger, garlic and scallions and stir-fry for about 30 seconds or until ginger is beginning to brown. Add orange sauce to pan and cook, stirring, until sauce starts to boil. Sprinkle sesame seeds over top and serve with steamed rice and sauteed bok choy or spinach.