Sweet & Spicy Mandarin Beef

Lately, I've loved making homemade sauces and dressings (garlic horseradish aoili, red wine vinaigrette, buffalo sauce, meat sauce, teriyaki sauce)... and now sweet & spicy mandarin orange sauce. 

When deciding what to cook for dinner tonight, I wanted to combine meat with vegetables and rice, but didn't want traditional stir-fry and I was looking for a sweet and spicy sauce with an elevated flavor profile. This stand-out dish is easy to prepare, tasty and has a beautiful presentation. 

Ingredients & Directions:  Sweet & Spicy Mandarin Sauce 

1 teaspoon Garlic

1 teaspoon Rice Vinegar

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

3 Tablespoons Mandarin Orange juice

1 teaspoon Sake

1/2 teasoon Plum Gekkeikan

1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (add more if you like a lot of spice)

1/2 teaspoon Honey

1/2 teaspoon Brown Sugar (add more if you want a thicker sauce consistency)

Orange Zest & Orange Peel

Ground Ginger

Sesame Seeds

Mandarin Oranges

Servings: 1-2

Combine garlic and rice vinegar in a small sauce pan on low heat. Let the garlic brown a little before adding in soy sauce, mandarin orange juice, sake, Plum Gekkeikan and sesame seed oil. Stir in between adding each ingredient to meld the flavors together. Next, add in the Sriracha and honey. When pouring in the Sriracha, add a little bit at a time, to ensure it is not too spicy for your liking. Finally, add in the brown sugar, followed by a little bit of orange zest, ground ginger, sesame seeds and mandarin oranges before letting the liquid mixture simmer for 15 minutes. Remember to stir the sauce a few times. 

While the sauce is simmering, you can get started on preparing the rest of the dish. After about 15 minutes, taste and add in any additional sweetness or spice, then reduce heat.  

Steak:

In this particular dish, I used sirloin, but flank steak is also a good option. You want the steak to be at room temperature prior to cooking (take out of the refrigerator approx 30-40 minutes before cooking), season with salt and pepper and brush with wok oil. Cook the steak on one side for 2 minutes and then flip and sear for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on the other side. Then, let the steak cool for about 10 minutes and slice into pieces. 

Vegetable:

Pour a small amount of oil in a skillet and pan-sear rinsed asparagus for approximately 10 minutes. 

Rice:

Next, cook your brown or white rice - I used Trader Joe's frozen brown rice, which cooks in the microwave for 3 minutes. 

Now that all of your ingredients are prepared, it's time to plate your dish. 

Presentation:

Place the asparagus on the bottom of your plate or bowl. Take one large orange peel and place in the center of the dish and put the steak on top forming an "x". On both sides, scoop brown rice and top with mandarin oranges. 

Drizzle the mandarin sauce over the steak and rice, then enjoy!