Flank Steak Stir-Fry

How to turn an inexpensive cut of beef into something enjoyable; like a skirt steak or flank steak.

1. Marinade it. Try a spicy marinade, then grill it and make steak tacos. You can also use the marinade as a sauce just deglaze the pan or add it to a beef stock or roux. Just remember if you marinate any raw meat be sure you bring the sauce to a boil to kill any bacteria.

Use the marinade with beef stock and add a little flour to make an Au Jus. Cut your steak in thin strips and cook them with some green bell peppers to make an alternative to a Philly steak sandwich. Oh, don’t forget the cheese.

2. Stir-Fry. The Chinese restaurants use flank steak in their beef stir-fry. They slice it thin and fry it up with some vegetables, soy sauce and sesame oil.

3. Pound it, bread it and make chicken fried steak.

This Flank Steak Stir-Fry serves 4 Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb flank steak, trimmed
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil, divided
2 bell peppers, one green one red, sliced into 1/4” strips
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half or one large tomato, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, optional
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil

Directions;

Season steaks with salt, pepper and garlic. Place the steaks between 2 sheets if plastic wrap and pound until 1/4” thick. Let rest 10 minutes to absorb the garlic, then slice across the grain into 1/2” strips.

Sauté the onions and peppers in a skillet with just 2 tablespoons of the oil. Cook until barely tender, about 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Sauté the beef strips in the remaining oil in the skillet on high heat. Do not stir until the beef is brown on one side. Cook only a minute for medium rare. Add the peppers, onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and cilantro, if using. Stir to combine and only cook 1-2 minutes longer. Yum Yum!

PS: For an added flavor, Marinate the beef strips in 3 tablespoon soysauce, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tsp grated ginger and 3 cloves crushed garlic (up to an hour). Save the marinade and add about 2 teaspoonful of cornstarch to it and add the mixture to the pan after cooking the meat and vegetables. Bring to a quick boil, then let simmer to thicken. This makes a nice gravy to pour over the rice.

PSS: Switch out the cherry tomatoes with mushrooms for a different take on this recipe.