Ginger Beef
When trying to decide which recipe to post this week, I automatically turned to something I had baked because, as the leaves begin to change, this is baking season! Of course, all seasons are baking season for me, and this week I baked chocolate brownie cookies with Reese’s Pieces, chocolate swirl banana bread, and spiced applesauce doughnuts. Happily for us, by the way, our neighbors have teenagers who eat a lot of my creations.
Anyway, as I weighed which of these baked items to add, my husband very wisely brought up the point that people have to eat real food sometimes, an actual meal. Sound advice from the Frenchman. His comment got me thinking about how as an adult, we sometimes think we can just eat what we want – because I am an adult! And that is probably true of the early stages of adulthood, but as I move more toward old age, I have come to realize that eventually we morph into the kind of adult who says, I can, but I won’t, because I shouldn’t.
I came to this realization during a recent trip to the supermarket where I pondered the wisdom of purchasing a box of Pop Tarts. It is not so much that I think Pop Tarts are great, but more that they are a bit of childhood nostalgia. Nostalgia, I ended up deciding, wasn’t worth the fat, the calories, or the sugar. Besides, I know how to make them myself and while they are still not exactly a health food, I am sure they are the wiser option. I put my brown sugar Pop Tarts back on the shelf with the realization that I was in a new phase of life, one in which I understand that can and should are usually not the same thing.
This week’s recipe is something I created because I like the idea of Chinese food dishes, but not the actual takeout version. Again, too much oil, etc. This is my take on something called Mongolian Beef – which I refuse to call Mongolian beef because I have serious doubts that Mongolian people actually eat it. Instead, I have decided to name it after the ingredient that gives it its delicious taste, ginger. The sauce, which is comprised of brown sugar, soy sauce, and water, makes an excellent base for all sorts of things including my favorite, chicken and broccoli.
Let me know if you give it a try!
Ginger Beef
Ingredients
- 1 lb sliced flank steak
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 2 tsp fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 2 tsp mustard
Instructions
- Prepare all of the ingredients before you begin cooking.
- Mix the sauce and set it aside. You will need to grate tsp of fresh ginger. I use a zesting tool, but if you don't have one, you can use the small holes on a box grater. If you have no tools, dice the two teaspoons as finely as possible.
- Stir the brown sugar, soy sauce, and water together. Add the mustard and mix until combined. Add the ginger, stir, and set aside.
- Prepare the red pepper and onion by slicing into strips. Make sure to remove the seeds from the pepper. Set the veggies aside.
- Slice the steak into thin strips. I used flat iron steak, but that is rather expensive, so flank steak is fine. You can even use a cheaper cut of meat if necessary.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the steak.
- Cook the steak, turning the slices occasionally, until cooked through, about four minutes.
- Remove the steak to a plate and keep warm.
- Add the veggies to the frying pan. If the pan is dry, add a bit more olive oil.
- Cook the veggies until soft, about 4-5 minutes.
- Once the veggies are cooked, return the steak to the pan.
- Pour the sauce over the entire mixture and simmer at a low heat for at least five minutes. Don't let the sauce evaporate.
- I love serving this over a bowl of cooked jasmine rice.
