Steak Stir-Fry

We had a great lunch at our favorite Thai restaurant yesterday. My wife asked if that satisfied my craving for good Asian food. I said it might have just stoked the fire. Then today on our way to the grocery store, their was a segment on NPR where a chef was describing her stir-fry techniques. So I think I had to make some for dinner.

I started by quickly stir-frying some Brussells sprouts in a little oil with salt & pepper. I have been mildly obsessed with these lately. But they're like little cabbages. So they go really well in stir-fry dishes.

Next I added some fresh ginger, scallions, and garlic in a little more oil.

I added some carrots into the garlic & ginger after they had just begun to let off a great aroma. Be careful not to let the garlic burn in the hot oil.

I set the veggies aside on a plate and then sliced a thin piece of steak into small strips, cutting against the grain.

Here is where I used a little bit of creative license. I made a seasoning blend of brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, and coffee grounds. I rubbed it all together in my hands to be sure the meat was evenly coated.

I cooked the steak really fast in a super hot pan.

Then I mixed together fish sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a little water.  I added that to the hot pan to bubble & reduce with the steak.  Finally I added all the veggies back to the pan and stirred everything together.  Serve it over top some brown rice, and top with fresh cilantro and green onions.

There are a lot of bold flavors here with the ginger, coffee, fish sauce, and coffee. You get heat & sweet from the red pepper flakes and brown sugar. The carrots provide a nice crunch for some texture. I think this dish was a great way to warm us up from the inside as temperatures outside approach record lows.

You could easily substitute red bell peppers, onions, snow peas, or any number of vegetables to this stir-fry. You could also make this a noodle dish instead of a rice dish. Stir-fry is a pretty easy technique and it's really versatile.