Blog

You are currently viewing Beef Stir Fry

Beef Stir Fry

I scored on my office stash with a flank steak double shot. I found BOGO (Link)steak on sale which was a couple pounds. I trimmed it into 1/4 pound sections and marinated half with Asian flavors and the other half with Mexican flavors.

Now I can pull them out from frozen even, and have super flavorful, pre-marinated stir fry or fajitas in a flash. We will learn this trick later.

Lunch was – Tuna Salad

Freezer marinated flank steak. Soy, garlic, ginger, five spice, salt & pepper, chili flake etc, bagged and frozen for later use in stir fry’s or ramens or other Asian-esque dishes.
Let the steak sit on a paper towel. Look at all the flavors there, you can see the garlic and ginger bits.
Meanwhile start prepping the veggies. It doesn’t take much of each to add up to a meal.
A sliver of cabbage and a slice of onion quartered.
One mini pepper, seeded and sliced.
And a good sized mushroom – or two small.
And a couple round slices of summer squashes.
This is a good place to use up that seasoning packet from ramen. I don’t use it all just a bit, it is essentially beef bullion with some Asian spices and sugar added. Starting the sauce – 1/8 teaspoon ramen packet powder or beef bullion.
I have a plethora of assorted Asian leaning seasonings and sauces. For this time I used fish sauce, oyster sauce, gochujang, five spice, and soy sauce.
A tablespoon of oyster sauce and soy sauce, and a teaspoon of fish sauce and gochujang. More or less to taste. Salty, sweet, spicy.
Grate in a clove of garlic, and a knob of ginger (link) from the freezer.
Mix in a good teaspoon of corn starch. Corn starch is essential for stir fry’s, it is the thickener for all the sauces which makes the sauce cling to the meat and veggies. It needs to be completely dissolved in cool or room temp liquid before adding to the heat.
Back to the steak. Flank steak is very flavorful, and nicely marbled. It can be quite chewy though if not treated properly. If you look closely you can see the striations in the meat in this case running up and down in the pic – that is the “grain” of the meat. You want to slice it against the grain, or the opposite direction of those striations.
First slice against the striations. You can see how nicely marbled the meat is, and how deeply the marinade has penetrated. That will bring some great flavor to the dish.
Then cut the slices in half – you don’t want them too small.
Everything ready to go. You can see how just a little bit of each item adds up quickly. One pepper, one mushroom, a slice of onion, a sliver of cabbage and a couple rounds of squashes. Quite often I over do stir fry’s and end up with lunch the next day … not a bad thing.
Add some oil to a hot pan brown the meat quickly. You want to get some good color on the meat, so hot and fast is the way to go. Remove the meat to a plate, leaving the hot flavorful oil in the pan for the veggies.
Add the veg to the hot pan, cook to crisp tender and just getting some color. “Stir fry” is actually a misnomer when it comes to western cooktops. They don’t get as hot as the fire rings found in Asia and using a wok doesn’t correct that. You are better to “stir” less and fry more. Leaving the veg to rest on the bottom of the pan to pick up some good color.
Return the meat, and any collected juices to the pan.
Give the sauce a quick stir and add into the pan. It should begin to thicken right off.
Thaw a serving of freezer rice (link). And arrange in the bowl.
Top the rice with the stir fry. Beautiful!
Chopsticks optional!

Angel

I have always cooked, I was that person who could make a meal from an empty fridge. I have lived alone and with large and small families, I have cooked for camps on wood stoves, and in professional kitchens. I have lived and worked all over the west from Montana, to Seattle to Arizona to San Diego. I have traveled, maybe not 'all over the world', yet, and have collected tastes recipes and techniques everywhere, and every one I meet.

Leave a Reply