Stir Fried Beef with Tangerines, Green Beans and Chiles

This recipe is sure to be another Tyler Florence favorite for our house. I received the cookbook Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen as a Christmas gift and it is quickly becoming my favorite gift of all time. So far, I have made Tyler's Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins from this book and it was a real hit. Most of the recipes in this book require ingredients I don't keep in my cupboard and more time than I have on weeknights. I usually make his recipes on Sunday when I have a lot of time. They're always winners. For other recipes I've made by Tyler, see my Tyler Florence tag.

Stir Fried Beef with Tangerines, Green Beans and Chiles
from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Ingredients

Marinade
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon sesame olive oil
1 teaspoon five spice powder - we didn't have five spice, so I used a substitute I found on recipezaar
1 tablespoon corn starch
sea salt and ground pepper

1 lb boneless beef top round, sliced paper thin
3 cups peanut olive oil - see note in review below
1 tangerine orange, unpeeled, sliced paper thin in circles
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
4 2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, minced
4 dried red chiles 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3/4 lb green beans halved on the bias
1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium)
1 tablespoon black vinegar or balsamic
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg white, sesame oil, five spice powder and cornstarch; season with salt and pepper. Add the beef, toss to coat in the marinade, and stick it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, pour the peanut oil into a wok and place over high heat. Heat the oil to 350 F (about 15 min). Toss the tangerine slices with 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. When the oil is smoking hot, quickly fry the tangerine for about 4 minutes. Frying the tangerine first removes the bitterness from the skin and the slices become crispy so you can eat them whole. Carefully remove the tangerine slices with a strainer to drain on a paper towel lined platter; their shape should remain in tact.

Bring the oil back up the smoking point and add half the beef. If you fry it all at once, the oil temp will drop and the beef with stew instead of crisp. Fry for 2 minutes and the remove to a paper towel to drain. Repeat with the rest of the beef. Very carefully drain all but 1/4 cup of the hot oil into a heat proof container. Stir fry the ginger, garlic, green onions and chiles in the remaining oil until they perfume. Add the green beans; season with salt and pepper. Mix the chicken stock with the rest of the cornstarch and add it to the wok. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Simmer until the sauce is thick and the beans are tender, about 10 minutes. Return the beef and tangerines to the pan and coat. Scatter the sesame seeds on top. Serve with steamed rice.



Serves: 6

Review

As far as the taste of this recipe goes, it was incredible. Before I made this, I searched some other blogs and found that Kristin of Sogkonnite Living had posted a review of this recipe. She mentioned that the sensitive stomachs in her house couldn't handle the deep frying. On her suggestion, I stir fried the oranges and the beef, instead of immersing it in oil. The recipe still turned out great. I also used a mix of black and white sesame seeds, though I'm not really sure this affected the taste at all. The only thing I was disappointed with was the oranges. Maybe I didn't cook them enough or something, but the skin definitely did not lose all of its bitterness. We ended up peeling the skin off. Next time I make this, I will peel them ahead of time.

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