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Sesame Beef and Snap Peas

A drizzle of chili sauce gives the tangy sauce in this dish a touch of heat while toasted sesame seeds and sesame oil offer a double shot of flavor. The dish comes together in minutes for a quick weekday meal. Serves 4

1 lb. flank steak or skirt steak, cut into thin strips
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
Kosher salt
1 Tbs. ketchup
2 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. Asian chili sauce (like Sriracha)
2 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted
3 Tbs. canola or peanut oil
3 Tbs. finely chopped ginger
10 oz. sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
1 tsp. cornstarch

Toss the beef with 1 tsp. each of soy sauce and sesame oil and 1/4 tsp. salt. In a small bowl, mix the remaining Tbs. each of soy sauce and sesame oil with the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, chili sauce, and half of the sesame seeds.

Heat 1-1/2 Tbs. oil in a large (12-inch) skillet or wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until it loses its raw color and browns in places, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a large plate. Cook the ginger with the remaining 1-1/2 Tbs. oil until it sizzles steadily and starts to brown lightly around the edges, about 1 minute. Add the snap peas, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt, and cook, stirring, until they turn bright green and start to brown in places, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/3 cup water and cook, stirring, until about half of the liquid cooks off and the peas start to soften, about 1 minute. Add the soy sauce mixture and beef, and cook, stirring, for a couple minutes until the mixture heats through and coats the peas and beef. Whisk the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water; add to the beef, and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the remaining tsp. sesame seeds, and serve.

Serving Suggestions

Keep it simple: serve with steamed rice.

photo: Maren Caruso
From Book Big Buy Cooking , pp. 178
September 21, 2010


Big Buy Cooking

Excerpted from

Big Buy Cooking
The food lover's guide to buying in bulk and using it all up
by Fine Cooking editors
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user reviews

Star Star Star Star Star Very easy to make once you have all the ingredients together. My family enjoyed it.
Star Star Star Star Star "Goes together in minutes" is a little misleading; like any stir-fry, it's very fast once all the prep work is done. This made about 3 servings for us, served over brown rice. I doubled all the sauce ingredients (ketchup, vinegar, sugar and sriracha) and this worked well. I don't have a 12" skillet; next time I'll cook the beef in 2 batches.
Star Star Star Star Star So my only NY Rez was: Make ONE new DISH per week...side, veg, or main. So...WOW! My family LICKED their bowls clean! MEAT/VEG-wise: I used carne asada meat and fresh snap peas. RICE-wise: Brown Calrose Rice. I thought I'd like to have leftovers so I doubled the recipe...but my family of four ate 1.5 times the recipe...so itty-bitty leftovers! MY RECOMMENDATIONS: Double all the liquids and sesame seeds (which I did from the get-go because it looked a lil' dry). REALLY YUMMY and I'll incorporate into monthly rotations.

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