I usually try not to share recipes that depend on a certain brandname ingredient. I think it’s kind of silly. As far as I’m concerned, the best food has always and will always be brand-less — well-raised, tender and flavorful meat; fresh fruits and vegetables; potent spices. That said, I’m an American in the year 2015; there are store-bought sauces in my kitchen, and depending on which sauce we’re talking about there are either proprietary recipes and/or quality issues at play with each one. In this case, Trader Joe’s “Soyaki” sauce is where it’s at.
Normally, I use Soyaki sauce for making jerky. Thinly slice a roast, marinate it in the stuff overnight and dehydrate — it’s delicious — but yesterday I was craving P.F. Chang’s Orange Peel Beef, and had an unopened bottle in the pantry; it was perfect in the sauce.
Enjoy! We certainly did.
- Beef
- 1 lb Flank Steak, thinly sliced
- Vegetable Oil
Marinade - 2 eggs
- ½ cup water
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Ground Red Pepper
Sauce - 1 cup Orange Juice
- ½ cup Trader Joe’s Soyaki Sauce
- 1 TBSP Honey
- 4-8 dried chiles de árbol (or similar small, dried chiles)
- ¼ cup Golden Raisins
- 1 TBSP Cornstarch
- Peel of 1 Orange, finely grated
Rice - 1 cup Dry Rice
- 1½ cup Water
- Pinch Salt
- 1 Pat Butter
- ½ cup Orange Juice
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- Combine all marinade ingredients and pour over flank steak in a shallow dish. Allow to marinade at least 4 hours.
- Combine rice, water, salt and butter in a pot. Bring to a boil stirring to distribute butter once melted. Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer. When rice has absorbed most of the water, dissolve ginger in orange juice and mix through. Remove from heat, leave covered and allow the rice to finish absorbing the liquid in the pan.
- Combine first five ingredients for the sauce and bring to a boil in a small sauce pot over med-high heat.
- Meanwhile, heat a couple “glugs” of vegetable oil over high heat in a shallow frying pan. Once hot, add beef to oil — if hot enough, the oil should pop and crackle when you put the beef in the pan – and fry, turning halfway through, until the outside of the beef develops a dark, crunchy layer. Remove from oil and set aside.
- When the sauce begins to boil, remove ⅓ cup from the pan and mix thoroughly with cornstarch in a small dish. Reduce heat under sauce pan and slowly pour the cornstarch mixture back into the sauce, stirring constantly. Once thickened, add beef and grated orange peel to the sauce, mixing well. Allow to simmer five to ten minutes.
- Serve beef and sauce over rice; garnish with additional orange peel and sliced scallions.