Spicy Orange Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Image from the Mealime website

After a few nights of making standard fare, and even a night off for a ordered in pizza, it was time to get back to being a bit more creative in the kitchen.

The Mealime app and website is my go to for new ideas whether I make it just the way they do, or take the idea and head off in a different direction.  This recipe for Spicy Orange Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry sounded interesting, and I had almost everything needed. 

I have grown less fond of store bought bottled stir fry sauces over the years, so loved that this recipe let me make my own from fresh ingredients. At the same time it wasn't complicated, and no one step took very long.

I simply threw the washed rice in the rice cooker and turned it on, prepared all the individual ingredients and mixed up the sauce.  Then 20 minutes and one large frying pan later (I just kept wiping it and reusing it) my meal was finished and ready to eat. My husband gave it a thumbs up which surprised me as he doesn't like spicy. This isn't super hot, but it does have a little kick to it. If you don't want any heat, leave out the chili-garlic sauce. 

The other note I want to make is I do my stir frying in a different order.  Recipes I've tried before always cook the meat first. Then they set it aside, wipe out the pan and cook the veggies.  I like reversing that as stir frying the veggies leaves a super clean pan, so I don't have to wipe it out in between cooking the veggies and meat. 

As every recipe I've ever seen does it the other way - there must be a reason.  However, I started mixing it up a year or so ago and so far, there's never been a problem.  So who knows. Below it shows the order I do it. You can follow the link above to the website for their more traditional way.

Never be afraid to try something in the kitchen you think will work better for you. It's your kitchen and you're the one doing the creating.

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Spicy Orange Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry
Serves 2 .

Ingredients - 

1/2 C               Basmati or Jasmine rice (I doubled this - we like rice)
1 C                  Water
1                      Large crown of broccoli, separated into bite size florets.
2 cloves          Garlic
1 inch              Piece of ginger root
3-4                  Green onions (3 large, 4 small)
1                      Large juicy orange
3/4 lb              Striploin or Sirloin Steak
1 tsp               Chili-garlic sauce (I used sriracha sauce)
3 tsp                Extra virgin olive oil (divided)
1 T                  Brown Sugar
1/4 C              Rice Vinegar
1/4 C              Tamari sauce (I used reduced sodium soy sauce)

Instructions -

Using a strainer or colander, rinse the rice under cold, running water, then drain and transfer to a medium saucepan. Add water and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.  Once the liquid comes to a boil, stir the mixture, cover the saucepan, and reduce the heat to low. Cook the rice until the liquid is fully absorbed, 15-18 minutes. OR cook in a rice cooker - so much easier.

Peel and mince the garlic. Peel and mince or grate the ginger. Set both aside in a small bowl. Use a grater to zest the oranges and transfer the zest to the bowl with the garlic and ginger. Juice the orange into a separate small bowl. Add the brown sugar, rice vinegar and soy sauce to the orange juice. Stir to combine. Trim off and discard the ends of the green onions; cut the onions crosswise into ¼-inch pieces at an angle. Slice the steak against the grain into ½-inch strips.1 ½ lb striploin (New York strip) steak.

Heat 1 tsp. of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic, ginger, orange zest, and chili-garlic sauce. Sauté until the ingredients soften, 2-3 minutes. Add orange juice, brown sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and reduces by half, about 10 minutes. Be careful not too have the temp too high and mine took less time so watch it carefully. Pour the sauce into a bowl and wipe out the pan with a paper towel.

Reheat the skillet, then add 1 tsp. oil and the broccoli.  Stir fry until crisp tender, about 7 minutes.  Set aside on a plate.  Return the frying to the stove. Once the skillet is hot, add the remaining 1 tsp. of oil and swirl to coat the bottom. Add the beef to the skillet in a single layer and cook without turning for 1 min.  Turn the beef and continue to cook until desired done-ness.  They say medium rare - I like mine fully cooked. 

If there is a lot of juice in the pan from the meat, drain it off.  Then add the broccoli, green onions and orange sauce to the skillet and stir well. Gently heat through - just 1-2 minutes tops. To serve, divide the rice into bowls and top with the beef and veggie mixture. Enjoy!