More Michael Smith

Another recipe from Chef at Home, Orange Ginger Beef.

Michael Smith's Orange Ginger Beef
From Chef at Home episode "Easy Asian Beef Stew"

• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 x blade simmering steak, boneless, about 1 pound or 0.5 kg
• 2 x onions, chopped
• 1 knob ginger, rinsed well, unpeeled, sliced thinly
• 2 tbsp of Soy sauce
• 1 x 10 oz can of beef stock
• 1 cup of orange marmalade
• 1 cup of orange juice
• 1 tbsp of five-spice powder (optional)
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 1 cup of bean sprouts
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1. Preheat the pot over a medium high heat then add the oil. Sear the steak on both sides until evenly browned. Add the onions and ginger and stir for a few minutes until lightly browned. If the pan starts to burn, add a splash of water and continue…

2. Add the soy sauce, orange juice, marmalade, beef stock and five-spice powder. Rinse the cilantro well then thinly chop the root end of the bunch, add to the pot. Reserve the leaves. Bring all the ingredients to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight fitting lid and continue simmering until tender, about 1 hour.

3. When the meat is tender enough, break it into smaller chunks. Split the spinach and bean sprouts evenly between four bowls. Stir the green onions into the broth then ladle into each bowl. Top with a sprinkling of the reserved cilantro leaves. Enjoy!

I made this one pretty much as written. Although my pot didn't really have a tight fitting lid so I just put some foil over the top before putting the lid on.

It was really good, the orange flavour was something quite different to what I'm used to, but I found that it went beautifully with the spinach and the bean sprouts and it was a lovely meal. I can't say that I noticed the ginger though - the orange was definately the dominant flavour.

I loved the fact that you could use the piece of meat whole and by the end of the hour of simmering the meat really did fall apart (although I did have to prod it a bit). And it really did only take an hour simmer, in total it was perhaps an hour and half all up including serving. Very good.