Sweet & Sour Gingered Beef

If you haven’t made candied ginger and syrup yet it is worth it just to be able to make this recipe. If you don’t have the home made ginger you can buy it and the ginger syrup at the oriental market, but it will cost you more than the $1.98 it costs to make you own.

1 pound sirloin, cut into ½” squares

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

1 egg yolk

½ cup cornstarch

¼ cup peanut oil

2 tablespoon sesame oil

4 cloves of minced garlic

½ cup shredded carrots

¼ cup minced candied ginger

¼ cup ginger syrup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

¼ cup minced green onions

Place cut up beef in a bowl and mix with the tablespoon each of soy, cornstarch and water and let marinate about 30 minutes. Remove beef from bowl and dredge both sides in cornstarch. Heat up peanut oil and fry beef until browned and crispy on one side and then turn it over and do the same for the other side. You will probably need to cook the beef in two batches unless you have a really big skillet, just make sure you don’t over crowd the meat while browning. Remove beef from pan and place on paper towels and drain oil and wipe cornstarch out of it. Add sesame oil to the pan and sauté the garlic and carrots for a couple of minutes. Then add the minced candied ginger and ginger syrup, soy sauce, vinegar, orange juice and red pepper flakes. Cook this sweet and sour syrup for several minutes until the flavors meld well and add the beef back to the sauce and briefly reheat the beef and pour onto a platter and top with green onions. Leave the lovely bits of minced garlic and ginger in the sauce. Serve with steamed rice and broccoli to mix in with the sauce, if you like it like I do!