Living in the beautiful state of Oregon, we consumed really good Asian food, all the time. I guess we got a bit spoiled on all the fabulous choices that now, I struggle to find those americanized dishes. One of my favorite is General Taos and spicy sesame beef. Spicy, tangy, goodness on delicious rice. Here is a version that filled the tastebuds with all the flavors I missed. You will need to get the right ingredients, but so worth the final dish. Can be made with chicken breast, steak, or as I did a lean small port tenderloin.
The secret to a good stir fry is a very hot skillet or wok, have all your ingredients ready to cook and pre-prepped. When you leave a stir fry for a seasoning, you will get over cooked mushy results. have it all organized and ready.
- Protein one of following- small pork tenderloin , two large organic skinless chicken breasts, trimmed 1/2 inch steak (cleaned and bite sized cubed)
- small zucchini seeded and cubed
- small yellow onion halved and sliced
- 1 cubed red pepper
- 1 cubed green peper
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger root peeled and zested
- 1 small orange zest= 2 teaspoons
- Juice of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup orange juice ( or fresh squeezed )
- 2 Table spoons Soy sauce
- 2 table spoons Hoisin sauce
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp seseme seed oil
- 2 Table spoons hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 Tbs Corn Starch
- 2 cups cooked white rice of choice.
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Pre prep: Trim off fat and skin and cube meat to bite sized pieces. Keeping uniformed. chop all veggies as well as zest orange, peel and zest ginger root.
mix 1 TBS soy sauce, 1/2 cup orange juice, flour, cornstarch in a med sized bowl. Add cubed meat and allow to marinade for 15 minutes – set aside.
small bowl sauce- mix 1 Tbs soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin sauce, garlic, garlic powder, orange and ginger zest, sesame oil, juice of 1 orange , salt and pepper – set aside
large skillet med high heat, add oil and bring to a hot shimmer, add meat piece by piece and discard extra marinade. flash cook until browned and cooked thoroughly. Do not burn. place in a bowl and set aside. discard excess oil leaving just a coating for vegetable – its hot be careful and return pan to burner. Quick cook vegetables until fragrant. Add a tablespoon of water if dry in pan. Once to your tenderness( I like my veggies more crisp). add meat back to the pan and cover with sauce. Heat until bubbly hot and thickens a bit.
Serve with pepper flakes to taste, sesame seeds over hot fresh rice. In addition to this wonderful dish I made a pan of Trader Joes Chicken Gyoza. The BEST! and so easy to prepare.
Grit Cooking- A Southern Girls Taste 