Beef Stir Fry

Steve_G's Note:

A really easy stir fry, satisfies that taste for Asian cooking at home. For a really fast meal you can make this with frozen vegetables. It's just a good with pork or chicken. The method can be used for any combination that you desire. Add nuts, seafood, lamb, mushrooms, water chestnuts, whatever you like! -- You can use portabella mushrooms or tofu in place of the meat for a vegetarian treat. A great opportunity to clean out the veggie drawer :-).

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

For the Marinade

• ½ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 6 garlic cloves (minced or crushed ) or 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil or 2 tablespoons safflower oil

For the Stir fry

• ½-1 lb top round steak , cut about 3/16-inch thick across the bias (or similar lean cut, sirloin, flank, chicken breast, thighs, boneless pork chops, tofu, shrimp, port)
• 1 ½ cups snow peas
• 1 cup carrot , cut up about the size of the snow peas
• ½ cup onion , cut up about the size of the snow peas
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• ¼ cup water , for veggies
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch , mixed in water
• ¼ cup cold water

Directions:

1. Combine liquid marinade ingredients in a 2 cup heat proof measure, heat in the microwave (or in a pan of hot water) just enough to thin the honey, stir to combine, add spices, stir.
2. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile trim all fat from beef, slice up meat, place meat and marinade in a 1 gallon ziploc bag, remove all air from bag and refrigerate for 4 to 48 hours.
4. Remove meat from marinade, drain in colander, reserve strained marinade!
5. In a wok or large skillet over medium/high with teaspoon of sesame oil (just enough to coat pan when wiped with a paper towel) cook meat until lightly browned, stirring constantly.
6. Pull meat from center of pan and add chopped vegetables and 1/4 cup of water.
7. Cover and bring to a simmer.
8. Cook until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes or until desired tenderness is reached, be sure to stir every few minutes after the first 5.
9. Remove meat/veggie mixture, pour reserved marinade into pan, bring to a boil.
10. Allow to boil for a minute or two to kill any bacteria that was present from the marination process.
11. While stirring constantly, slowly pour cornstarch mixture into heated marinade until desired thickness is reached it may not take all the cornstarch.
12. Just GO SLOW as once the thickening process starts it happens almost instantly.
13. Add meat/veggies back into the sauce, toss to mix and coat, pour onto a serving platter.
14. Serve with white rice.

Reviews

[Evie*]

I used runny hunny so didnt need to thin the honey, just marinaded the meat straight away. My husband asked after he darn near licked his plate if this was a zaar recipe, and if so give it 5 stars, Lucky I agreed! I added half a green capsicum and half a red one, also mushrooms. Delicious!!

[Chrissyo]

We tried this recipe tonight. It was tasty. I marinated the steak for the full 48 hours. It is worth doing. What I liked the most about this recipe was the subtle flavour sesame oil and the peanut which infuses the meat nicely.

[Molly53]

The flavor was excellent, but a little salty for my taste (husband LOVED it as is), so the next time I make this I'll be using lite soy sauce. Was out of honey, so substituted dark corn syrup instead. Didn't have any fresh stir fry-type vegetables, so used frozen (thawed so as not to reduce the heat too much in the pan). We WILL be making this one again. The recipe was very easy to follow and took very little time. After marinading the meat, the actual cooking time was only about 15 minutes.