This recipe for orange beef (陈皮牛 – chén pí niú in Mandarin) is made with a variety of tasty ingredients.
Beef is shallow-fried and seasoned with various aromatics, including star anise, dried red chili peppers, ginger, garlic, scallions, and oranges.
Why Do Chinese People Use Dried Orange Cakes?
This dish gets its name from the aromatic Chinese dried orange peel that serves as the main flavoring agent.
In China, a special sour orange cultivar is cultivated to produce the peels used to make dried Mandarin oranges.
Oranges are harvested, the peels are removed, and then the fruit is sun-dried and packaged to store for years.
Some purists believe that the flavor of aged Mandarin peels improves with time, much like that of fine wine or tea.
Please Direct Me to a Source of Dried Mandarin Orange Skin.
Dried mandarin peels are stocked in most Chinese supermarkets. They smell and taste like citrus and have a strong, distinct flavor that is slightly bitter.
If you are unable to locate them, you can use dried orange peels you prepare at home as a suitable substitute.
Keep in mind that you need a peel with particularly thin skin. Regular orange peels are too thick and lack flavor concentration to be dried.
Crispy Orange Beef Is What?
How come we sometimes refer to this meal as crispy orange beef? What’s in the beef dish is the key.
The meat is going to be marinated, dredged in cornstarch, and then fried in the wok to create a crispy crust.
Our signature Mongolian beef dish also makes use of a method quite similar to this one.
Our fragrant Mandarin orange peel sauce pairs wonderfully with the crispy beef, which absorbs the sauce and becomes a textural and flavorful medley.
The recipe, please!
Ingredients:
For the beef:
- 12 ounces of beef flank steak
- 1 pinch of five spice powder
- 1 tablespoon of water
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons of orange juice
- 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce
- ¼ teaspoon of baking soda
For the sauce:
- 1/3 cup of warm water
- 1/3 cup of orange juice
- 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of orange marmalade
- 2 teaspoons of Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper
Rest of the dish:
- 7 whole dried red chili peppers
- 5 pieces of dried Mandarin orange peel (1-1 ½ inches)
- 2 slices of ginger
- 1 star anise
- 1 clove of finely chopped garlic
- 1 scallion (sliced into 2-inch)
- 2 cups of broccoli florets
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup of cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Instructions:
- Cut the beef across the grain into pieces that are 2 to 3 inches (5-7 cm) long and 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch (approximately 0.5 cm) thick. Throw the meat, water, cornstarch, orange juice, oil, oyster sauce, baking soda, and five spice powder (if using) into a medium bowl and mix well. Prepare the marinade and let it sit for an hour.
- Add the sugar and hot water to a basin of suitable size. The sugar must be dissolved, so stir. After that, pour in some orange marmalade, orange juice, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and white pepper. Mix everything and put it aside.
- Prepare a shallow bowl or dish with a quarter cup of cornstarch. Dredge some of the steaks, and then shake off the excess cornstarch.
- Stirring constantly to ensure consistent heating, bring a third cup of vegetable oil to a high temperature in a wok until it just starts to smoke. Evenly disperse a few beef slices in the wok.
- Brown the beef by searing it for 45 seconds to 1 minute per side (in batches, so that each piece of meat is in contact with the oil).
- Take the beef out of the wok and let the excess oil drain off. Cook the beef in batches until it’s all done. Remove from consideration.
- To a pot, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tablespoon of oil, and bring to a boil. Then, add 4 cups of water. Cook the broccoli for 45 seconds after adding it (or a few seconds longer if you like your broccoli softer).
- Rinse the broccoli using cold running water, and then arrange it in a decorative border around the edge of the serving dish.
- Go back to stirring the wok. Reduce the oil for frying by all except 1 tablespoon. Place the ginger slices, dried chiles, dried orange peel, and star anise in a pan over medium-low heat. For 30-60 seconds while stirring, you may caramelize the ginger, toast the star anise, and dry chiles. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds after you add the garlic and scallions.
- Add the sauce, stir it well, and turn the heat up to medium-high to get it to a simmer. When the sauce is at a simmer, add the cornstarch slurry and whisk until it thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Put the steak there (and the broccoli if you want it cooked in the sauce). Put a scoop onto a serving platter and serve right away.