Orange beef

I tried to make orange beef this week. I would say that I was 50% successful. The recipe I used calls for marinated beef that is double fried in 400 and then 425 degree oil. While I wouldn't call the dish especially labor intensive, there are certainly a lot of different steps for it.

It starts off with slicing flank steak into slices, marinating it with baking soda, a little oil, pepper and shao hsing and putting it into the fridge for an hour. While that's hanging out, mince some ginger and a couple cloves of garlic. Slice two scallions into two inch pieces. Mix up a sauce mixture that combines shao hsing, soy sauce, sugar, a little fresh orange juice. Heat the oil to 400 and deep fry the beef, dropping the slices in one by one. Pull them out and drain. Heat the oil to 425 and repeat. Drain.

Saute the garlic and ginger. Add some dried orange peels. Then add the scallions. Then the meat. Heat about 45 seconds, then add the sauce. Cook until all the sauce is absorbed.

So obviously the recipe is simple enough but still easy enough to mess up. Next time, I would use thinner slices of beef and I would add more sugar to the sauce, perhaps even add sugar after adding the sauce to help caramelize like I do for teriyaki beef.

We had the orange beef with sauteed shanghainese bok choy, beef with scallions, steamed tofu with soy sauce and sesame oil, and purchased roast pork and roast duck. I never could cook just a little Chinese food, but it always means leftovers for days.