Orange Beef

Whenever I eat at a Chinese restaurant, I look to see if they have orange-peel beef (or orange beef).  The quality of a restaurant's egg rolls and orange beef frequently determines whether I go back.

My heart did a little leap when I found this recipe from New Wok Cooking by Rosa Ross, made with easy-to-find ingredients.

Real Orange Beef: 

(yield:  4 servings)

1 pound beef filet mignon tails or flank steak
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable oil

Sauce:
2 pieces dried tangerine peel (about 2 inches long) soaked in warm water and slivered, and 1/4 cup of the soaking water preserved
4 slices peeled fresh ginger (each about the size of a quarter), slivered
1 tablespoon slivered orange zest
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons thin soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

Slice the meat into thin strips about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick.  In a small bowl, combine the dark soy sauce, corn starch and pepper.  Add the beef, toss to coat well, and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a carbon-steel wok, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until just smoking.  Deep-fry the beef slices, in batches, for about 5 minutes, until crisp.  Remove to paper towels to drain.  Pour off the oil from the wok, and reserve for another use, or discard.  Do not clean the wok.

Sauce:  Set the wok over a high flame and add the tangerine peel, ginger and orange zest.  Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until aromatic.  Add the sherry, orange juice, thin soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and reserved tangerine water.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 2 minutes, until slightly reduced.

Add the beef to the sauce and toss to mix and coat well.  Drizzle with sesame oil and serve immediately.

(With white rice, at my house.)

[food illustration from Cloud Garden Restaurant.]

Comments

[keewee]

This sound very tasty.